The Institute
by Vicky May
Summary: Alyss has always lived life hiding in herself. But then she is taken away to The Institute; where Scavangers roam the darkness outside and Scientists roam with syringes inside. Her only hope turns to a flock of six kids in the same position. FAX. ON HOLD
1. Chapter 1 2 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own maximum ride. But I own this plot and Alyss.**

**First Fanfic, Be Nice Guys! I Know It's Long Winded, But Our Favourite Winged Characters Will Be Appearing Soon Enough...**

* * *

Hi. You don't know me, and I don't know you. I'll probably never know you, but at least I can tell you about me. If you think I'm crazy you are probably right.

Well. I was.

My story isn't believable, and never will be. But if I tell you, maybe you'll understand just a little bit. I'm not asking you to believe. I'm just asking you to listen.

Before all of this happened, I was alone. But afterwards, I found something worth living for. Some very special people made me believe not only in myself, but in hope.

So listen and learn, readers. I'm only gonna tell you once...

**Chapter 1**

I glared angrily at my father. He glowered back, his face slowly turning puce.

"Room!" he screamed. "Now!"

Without a backward glance I thundered up the stairs, slamming my bedroom door and locking it for good measure. Seizing my pillow, I screamed all of my anger into it, stomping my feet and kicking my door. When I had finished I flopped onto the floor, listening to the faint sound of murmuring voices beneath my floorboards. I hated my life. Hated it. Especially of all, I hated my dad.

My name is Alice. It's not spelt that way, though. It is spelt _Alyss. _But whenever I had to write my name I wrote it like _Alice. _No one knows the real spelling. I'm fourteen, but will be fifteen next week. My birthday is on the fifth of May, and I live at thirty two Queen Street. I live with my dad and his multitude of girlfriends. I go to Creiff High - that's obviously in Creiff – and I have few friends.

Well. You wouldn't have many friends you heard voices.

Yep. You got that right. I hear voices. In my head. Technically, its one voice, but I prefer to classify it as voices. I began to hear it five years ago, when I was ten. Back then it wasn't so extreme. It almost was like my mother. It chided me for being late for class, it reminded me to walk the dog, it warned me to keep my temper with my dad…I didn't think it was bad. I clung onto it. If I held out a storybook and turned the pages, it would read to me. It was like a mother to me.

Because mine died giving birth to me, I didn't want to let it go. Until I reached thirteen, it looked after me.

Then it began to get nasty.

If it was reading to me, it would put nasty twists on the end of the book, and my dreams would turn to nightmares. At school it told me to backchat to the teachers, and it made me hit my dog, Heg. A year ago I almost killed myself.

But no one knew about that.

So I tried to keep myself to myself, keeping my head low, passing my exams. Occasionally, the Voice is nice and comforting, and tells me to keep my chin up, and cheers me up. But then it would get nasty again.

My only friend is Anna. She is my friend at school. Granted, she's a freak because she had sumo glasses and has scientists for parents. But she is still my friend. We hang out together in the library.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a glasses wearing pigtail freak. Trust me. I have shoulder length blond hair and eyes that change to blue, green and grey according to my mood. I'm about average height, and I don't get called ugly at school. I just hear voices.

My dad is jobless, so the government pays for everything. I hate my dad. He is a drunk that has a woman every night. He hits me sometimes. I feel hate whenever I think of him. Still, he is my only living relative, so I can't run away to somewhere else.

I closed my eyes. Casy was around. My dad had told me to go to my room instead of walking Heg. I knew what was going to happen. They'd get drunk; fool around, and disappear for several hours. It made me sick.

Standing up, I looked at myself in the mirror. I had bags under my eyes. I hadn't been sleeping well the last few weeks. I have no idea why, but I started to have nightmares with monsters in them. I didn't know what had brought them on, but I wished they would go away. It made me look ugly.

_Don't be silly. You're a very pretty girl, Alyss, and don't forget that._

I banged my head hard on my mirror. Oh no.

"You're back." I whispered. "Go away."

_Honey, I wasn't gone forever. _The voice chided. _I'm still here. I'm always here._

"Go away." I said with force. "I don't want you."

Sometimes, the Voice would go away for a couple of weeks. Then it would come back. I didn't mind, because I got to act like a normal person. It was also the only person in the world who wouldn't accept the new spelling of my name.

_Of course you don't. _The Voice sounded amused. _You never want me. Now brush your teeth. It's time for bed._

I looked at my clock. God. It was half ten already.

With my stomach growling I got ready for bed, crawling under the covers. I switched on my antique electric blanket. After a while I stopped shivering and started to drop towards unconsciousness.

_Don't forget you have a history test tomorrow._

I was half asleep, so I didn't feel that annoyed. "I'm trying to sleep." I muttered. "Thanks, but tell me tomorrow."

_Go to sleep, Alyss. Sleep safe._

Closing my eyes, I fell asleep.

* * *

I woke up and rolled out of bed. Landing on the hard floor on my backside wasn't good. I rubbed my eyes and stumbled up. After changing and brushing my hair, I made my way downstairs. My dad's door was closed. After a brief breakfast of toast I grabbed my bag and left, resigning the half hour walk to school. My father couldn't drive. He lost his licence when drunk driving. So now I had to walk everywhere.

_It isn't your fault. _

"Of course it isn't." I snapped. "It's _your_ fault for being in my head."

_No one else cares about you. _

I resisted the urge to smack my forehead. I could never hurt the Voice. Only myself.

_Too right._

With a snarl I ignored the Voice. It only bugged me in the mornings. When I finally got to school, I had to run and sign in before slipping into assembly. I spotted Anna and sat beside her, ignoring the small whispers of "Loser" and "Psycho."

"Hey, Anna." I said with a smile. "How was your weekend?"

She smiled, showing braces. "I got braces. And my mum offered to have you over for tea."

Knowing how busy her parents were, I knew this was a special invitation. "Thanks, Anna." I exclaimed warmly. "That'll be great."

She blushed and looked at the ground. Our head teacher, Mr Banks, came to the front of the hall and tapped the microphone.

"Quiet, please, quiet…"

No one shut up, of course. Mr Banks sighed and brought out a whistle. He blew it hard, startling the students into silence.

"Thank you."

He straightened his tie, looking nervous. "We have school inspectors coming, this morning. All of you are to behave. If anyone is rude or does misbehave you will get a punishment exercise and a phone call to your parents. Is that understood?" he squeaked into the microphone. The hall was silent. "Good." he sighed with relief. "Remember, they will be checking your school files to check everything is correct. You received a letter about it a few weeks ago. There are no assembly announcements. Dismissed."

Noise erupted in the hall the second Mr Banks left. I kept silent. So did Anna. We weren't big talkers.

My first lesson was Maths. Anna and I copied answers from each other and laughed a bit at our teacher, Miss Linen. She was incapable of handling a student, let alone a whole class. Once, she got so angry she locked herself in a cupboard and refused to come out. It was fun to play tricks on her.

When the bell rang I stood up slowly. I had history next.

_As well as a history test._

"Damn!" I hissed. "I forgot about that!"

_I told you last night, but you didn't listen._

"Shut up!"

I noticed that a few of my classmates were looking strangely at me, so I waved quickly to Anna and hurried out. Some people sniggered. I ignored them and headed to history, groaning mentally as I entered the classroom. The desks were separated and a sheet of lined paper lay on each desk. I plonked myself in the back row and took out a pen, studying it as others sat around me, chatting to their friends. My teacher Mr Love came in and put the test paper on our desks.

"Remember, no cheating." He barked. "You have forty five minutes. You may begin."

A flurry of papers resounded around the classroom, and I turned my paper around slowly. With a deep breath I looked down, my nervousness turning cold.

Oh, no. I didn't know any of the answers.

_It is your fault because you didn't revise enough. If you ask nicely, maybe I will tell you._

Please tell me! I begged silently. I don't want to fail this!

_Fine. Read the first question. _

I read it hurriedly. When was the Easter Rising in Ireland?

_1916. It lasted five days – 25__th__ of April to the 29__th__ of April._

Thank you.

With the Voice helping me, the test was ridiculously easy. I was halfway done when the door opened and closed. I didn't look up, but stilled as measured footsteps walked up to the front of the classroom. I heard an unfamiliar voice speak to Mr Love.

_Look up, Alyss._

I looked up. A man in his mid thirties was standing in a smart suit and suitcase next to the board, speaking quietly to Mr Love. The inspector had dark hair and eyes, and had a small smile on his face. Well. I would be smiling too if Mr Love was dithering and drooling over my shoes in an attempt to gain marks for his teaching.

The man nodded to Mr Love and began to survey the classroom, his dark eyes resting on the head of one student before flicking to the next. I felt surprisingly unsettled and looked down at my paper, reading the next question.

_What would you call the type of warfare that the Anglo-Irish War (The War of Independence) had?_

I don't know! I sighed. Please, tell me.

_Okay. It was a Guerrilla War. This meant that there were almost no major skirmishes, and used ambushes, assassinations and burnings. _

Cheers. I wrote that down. It was only then I realized that the Voice was completely silent.

Usually I could tell when it was there. It was like a presence in my mind, waiting to say something. But I couldn't sense it at all. It was gone.

Um – hello?

Nothing.

I started to sweat. What was I going to do? I couldn't finish the rest of the test. They'll think I cheated. I looked at my paper in panic. This was bad. Very bad.

I felt the hair on the back of my neck raise. Swallowing hard, I raised my head.

**Chapter 2**

Dark eyes bored into my own. I couldn't move. Dimly, I realized that somehow I was caught in the inspectors gaze. I wanted to break free, to look away, down, anywhere, somehow…

_Let go!_

I looked at my paper. I heard the inspector catch his breath in surprise. The Voice was hissing angrily, muttering words I couldn't hear.

_Don't you look up again, Alyss! _

Don't worry. I won't.

The voice quickly gave me the rest of the answers. The bell went just as I was finished, and I scrawled my name untidily on the front. I grabbed my bag and ran out the door, running to the toilets. I locked myself in a cubicle, breathing hard.

"Who was he?" I gasped. "What did he do to me?"

_I don't know._

The voice sounded frustrated.

_Listen to me, Alyss. You're going to avoid him. Even if he is in the same hall you turn and go into the other direction. You're going to do this for me. No excuses._

I felt comforted briefly. "I thought you wanted to kill me." I whispered.

_Well, I did. It's fun to mess with your head. But now I have other problems. Keeping you alive is a major one. Do you promise?_

I swallowed and rested my head on the door, letting the cold wood cool my forehead.

"I promise."

* * *

When I got home that night, my dad was out. After a quick shower I took Heg for a walk, letting him off his lead at the park. The Voice didn't bother me. When I got home I laboriously did my homework. The Voice chided in, helping me when I didn't understand. Just as I was cleaning the kitchen the phone rang.

I picked it up and held it to my ear. We never got phone calls.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is that Mr Ridell?"

I recognized the sound of Mr Banks, my head teacher. "Um, no, I'm sorry, Mr Banks is unavailable. Can I take a message?"

"Is that Alice?"

I kicked myself. "Yes."

"Where is your father?"

_Careful, Alyss. Tell him he's at the shops._

"My dad is just doing some grocery shopping." I said carefully. "Is there a message you'd like to pass on?"

"Oh. Yes. Alice, you and your father and required to go to a meeting after school tomorrow. You will be meeting with Mr Roger and myself. Is that understood?"

_Say yes._

"Yes, Mr Banks." I said quickly. "We'll see you tomorrow. Bye!"

I slammed the phone down. I heard my father coming into the door. I ran to meet him, planting myself firmly in front of him.

"You have to go to the school tomorrow and see Mr Banks, my head teacher." I spat. "I have to go too."

"Why do I have to bloomin' go"?

I felt angry.

_Don't say that! _

Too late.

"Because in case you haven't noticed, you're supporting a teenage daughter. If you can't be bothered to take your soggy ass to my school, then I'll be taken away and you'll be out into jail. That's why."

I knew I had gone too far when my dad's eyes narrowed. He unbuckled his belt. I stood tall, glaring at him.

"I have to go, do I?" he said in a dangerous voice.

_Alyss. You went too far._

When my dad's belt whipped across my face, I agreed that I had gone too far, too.

* * *

With shaking fingers I put slave onto my face. I looked terrible. I had a black eye. Tears started to fall, and I fell into a sore, rocking ball on the floor.

_Poor Alyss. My poor, poor Alyss._

I cried harder. It was only a voice in my head. It wasn't even a real person.

_Poor Alyss. He was terrible. You look so hurt. Here. Put some salve on. That's my girl. That's my strong girl._

The tears continued to fall. I finished putting the slave on and fell into bed, my tears soaking my pillow. I hated my life. I hated my dad. I wanted my mum. Not a voice inside my head.

_My darling, darling girl. My baby. You are so strong. Go to sleep, my angel. Have some rest. I'll watch over you._

"You're a voice." I whispered brokenly. "You're not real."

I started to cry again.

_Alyss._

I burrowed my head under my pillow. Yes?

_I am real as long as you want me to be. Now go to sleep._

I obeyed. The Voice started to croon a lullabye, and I soon fell into a deep and dreamless sleep. I recognized the song.

_Goodnight my angel, time to close your eyes…and save these questions for another day..._

**Chapter 3**

When I woke, the light was unnaturally bright. I lifted my head. Bright sunlight was streaming through my window.

"Wow." I murmured. "A bright sunrise."

_Check the clock._

Yawning, I rolled over and faced my clock. It took me a few minutes to take in the time.

"Holy crap!"

I leapt out of the bed, tripping over my blankets. It was half twelve. School started three hours ago.

"Why didn't you wake me?" I demanded. I started to pull on some clothes. Looking at my arms, I winced. The small cuts and bruises looked worse in the sunlight.

_I didn't wake you because you were out under so much emotional stress yesterday. Your body refused to let me connect to your mind and wake you._

I threw books into my bag. "I'm so dead!"

_Where do you think you're going?_

I stopped. "Um…school?"

_Wrong. It's too late. Claim you fell through a hedge and had to stay in bed all day. You can't just go to school. They'll suspect your father hit you. Which he did. Now get yourself presentable and stay in your room. We'll stay until it's time to go out._

I sagged. I was so tired. What was the harm of lying for one day? I didn't want to be adopted. So it made sense. I sighed.

"You always make sense."

My dad was out, so I had a shower and ate some breakfast. After brushing my teeth and feeding Heg, I played with him until about two thirty. After some lunch I went to my room and slowly brushed my hair. I was lucky. My hair dried naturally straight, so I didn't need straighteners. I couldn't afford them anyway.

I took a nap before going out to walk to my school. I made sure that I was fully awake, with my face covered with old make-up I stole from a woman's bag. I wore a long sleeved shirt so the scars on my arm weren't visible. Finally, I couldn't delay anymore. After one last check in the mirror at my face I started to walk. It was a hot day. It felt good not to be in school. Some old grannies _tsked _at me for walking past too quickly, but I didn't care. I was too busy worrying about this meeting with Mr Roger. Who was he? A person from the government? Did he hear about my dad's treatment to me? Have they decided to send me to a carer until my father was fit to look after me? Was I going to move school? What if I was in trouble? Did I do something to upset the inspector?

I was too deep in thought to see the car. I was crossing the road, my thoughts in the clouds, when I heard a screech of tires. My body tensed, and the Voice shattered, louder than anything I've heard before – _LOOK OUT!_

I dived forward, feeling hot air rush behind me. I crawled over to the sideward, my head pounding, and my eyes wide. The blue car that had nearly hit me swerved on, ignoring the angry shouts. A few people came over, asking if I was all right. I nodded and smiled; until I pleaded I needed to get home. They let me go. I started to run. My antique watch told me it I was going to be late for the meeting. I ran into the school grounds, not stopping until I was at reception. I skidded to a halt in front of the desk. The receptionist looked up.

"Um, I'm supposed to be meeting with–"

"That's all right, Alice. They're in Mr Banks office."

I frowned. Taking a deep breath, I walked into the office.

My father was surprisingly sitting on a chair, nibbling away at some biscuits. Mr Banks and two other people were there, one a woman, the other a man. The woman had short, bouncy blond hair, with blue eyes and a stern face. She had a smart blue suit on, a blue waistcoat with a skirt. I froze when I recognized the inspector I had seen yesterday.

_Him again._

"Please, sit down, Alice." Mr Banks motioned to a seat. I sat, my eyes narrowed.

_Breath evenly. Keep your head up. Be calm. Whatever happens, don't look surprised._

I nodded. Mr Banks took that as a sign to start.

"Alice, I am sorry to inform you that there has been a rather…well, big mistake with your school records." He started nervously. My father didn't look bothered.

"So? Get new ones."

I restrained my irritation. They better not think I'm like my father.

_They won't. They don't. They see your father like the man he is, a drunkard._

"You see, while we thought we were processing your academic, dental, medical and personal records, the inspectors discovered that we were accidentally deleting them. Although this seems a minor trouble, the government is very vexed at this."

"What's the government got to do with this?" my dad slurred. "Get new ones. You have back ups, surely. All Alice has to do is go to school. So let her."

The woman leaned forward. "Mr Ridell. I am Dora Mclean and this is my associate Doctor Redmand. We are very concerned at your daughter's loss of records. By government law we are required to get her out of this school, as it has proved inadequate."

Mr banks started to bluster. I looked suspiciously at Doctor Redmand. So that's your name, I thought. How fitting.

_A doctor? How ironic. _The Voice agreed.

My dad looked angry. "What? Pay for a new school? I'm not going to work extra–"

"Mr Ridell, your house, loans, rent and daughter school fees are paid by the government. You do not work. A social services check is being made upon your house. If it proves unsatisfactory your daughter will be removed from your care and placed into another school."

I stared at Dora Mclean. She's taking me away from my horrible life!

_I bet they're not even from the government._

A small buzzing sound emitted from Dora's bag. Her hand flashed, and she held a small silver phone to her ear.

"Yes…yes…ah. Indeed. I shall inform Mr Ridell and his daughter. Thank you." she snapped the phone shut.

"Mr Ridell, you no longer have parental control over your daughter." She announced. I stared at her. My father choked.

"Your daughter is to leave today to go into care. A car will arrive for you," she said looking at me. Her blue eyes were piercing. "You are to gather your personal possessions and wait outside your home. At six o'clock precisely a car will arrive. It will take you to our social services facility."

"Wait!" my father blundered. "I need documents, officials – you can't just take her away!"

"If you are unsatisfied with this brief meeting, here are some documents." Doctor Redmand handed over pieces of paper. My father's eyes bulged as he read it.

"Who'll do the dishes?" he spat. "I'm a busy man, my house won't clean itself!"

I felt rage rise.

_Gently, gently. This may work out._

"Mr Banks." Doctor Redmand said calmly. "Would you please sign here, accepting full responsibility for this child's loss of records?"

Mr Banks looked at me. My face was pale, with spots of red on my cheekbones. He took the pen and paper from Doctor Redmand and signed, shaking his head.

"Nonsense." He muttered.

"Mr Ridell." Dora held out the pen. "Please sign accepting that your parental skills are unacceptable, and that your daughter would be better in the governments care."

My dad snatched the pen and signed angrily. He sneered at me. "Wretched girl."

"And, Miss Ridell."

I looked up. The four adults were staring at me. I looked at the poised pen, wavering in the air in front of me. I looked at the piece of paper.

"Please sign accepting that your father and school were incapable of keeping you and you accept living in government care."

I took the pen. It was heavy, and embodied in the gold was a strange crest. I glanced at the paper. There was a lot of writing, and three small spaces. Two were occupied with signatures. I sighed. I would have to write my birth name. I lifted the pen and brought it down on paper.

_Write your false name, Alyss! _The Voice told me. _Write it the way you always spell it!_

I frowned. Swallowing hard, I lifted the pen, and wrote solemnly in my neatest handwriting. When I had finished, I looked up. The inspectors looked smug, my father was in a huff, and Mr Banks was drinking his tea. I looked down at my signature. I felt like a weight was on my shoulders, like I had signed myself into something I should have never agreed to do in the first place. It was my name. But it wasn't right.

Alice Ridell.


	2. Chapter 4

**Please Review and tell me what you think so far!! **

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Something wasn't right. Even as I walked into my house I knew something was wrong. I checked my room. Nothing out of place. I checked Heg. She was playing absently with a toy, her eyes down. She wasn't alarmed. I slowly started to pack, but couldn't shake off the feeling that I was being watched. I changed my clothes to some jeans, trainers, a t-shirt and a zip up jumper.

"What's wrong?" I asked myself. "Did I do something wrong?"

_I don't know. What did you do?_

"Nothing!"

_Then it's not your fault. Let's think. They managed to delete all your records, take you out of your school and take you away from your only living family. _

I froze. "It's almost like they took me off the face of the earth. They've deleted my existence!"

_Why have they done this? Think. You're a smart girl. You can work it out._

I snarled and continued packing. I took all of my valuables and put them about me. I didn't want to lose them. I was nearly finished when my doorbell rang, making me freeze. I looked outside of my window. A black shiny car with two people sitting in it was waiting in my drive. I stumbled back, illogical fear searing my veins.

"I don't want to go!"

_You have to. You signed up._

I threw the rest of my belongings into my bag. I zipped it up quickly, shoving it on my bed. After checking my reflection I ran downstairs. The doorbell rang insistently. I wrenched the back door open. I started to run, the Voice yelling in my ears.

_You silly girl! Well. It's too late now. Take a left, into Macrosty Park!_

I veered left and ran down the steep hill into the park. I startled some dog walkers as I ran past them.

Suddenly, I tripped, and sloshed into a stream. Growling, I ran up the other bank, and ran across the wide park. In the corner of my eye I saw a black car speeding on the road opposite me. I ran faster. I ran past the playground. A few children called to me, but I was deaf to their complaints. I needed to escape, to run away.

_Keep running!_

I started up some stone steps. I couldn't see any more people, but that didn't frighten me. I've been alone all my life. Well. Not totally alone.

I burst into a road just as a black car screeched to a stop. The door opened, and two pairs of hands grabbed my arms and pulled me in. I screeched and kicked, but I was thrown into darkness. My face was pressed against the floor. I couldn't move. I felt the car moving. I tried to scream, but something hit my head. Hard.

Ow.

_Get up! Get up now!_

"I can't." I mumbled. "They're holding me too tightly."

I heard my captors stiffen and say, "What?"

_Get up! Do something!_

"You do something!" I snapped breathlessly.

_This is your fault._

"My fault? You're actually blaming me?"

Something hit my head again.

"Shut up!"

I kept quiet. I felt scared out of my life, but my head throbbed too much for me to care. The Voice was silent. I closed my eyes.

This was too much. Please, anyone, someone, save me. I promise I'll do whatever I can to help other people, and not talk back to the Voice, even if I'm lonely…

I must have fallen asleep; because when I woke it was dark outside. The car had stopped. The men – I identified them as men – lifted me out. I looked around. And gasped.

I was standing in front of one, single large building with glass as a roof. I looked around. There were huge electric fences, with searchlights that searched the sky as well as the ground. I was towed towards a huge double door. I noticed that there were big circular pipes large enough for me to stand in set at regular intervals in the building.

_Get out!_

I started to struggle. They were dragging me now, my feet barely touching the ground. We reached the door. One of the men punched in a number in a security pad, and the doors creaked open. We were in a hall. I started to struggle again, kicking the men's legs. I started to screech, but the man to my left hit my head. I saw stars, and heard the Voice hissing in anger.

Suddenly. I heard a door open, and I was dragged across a room and thrown onto a floor. I was kicked viciously in the stomach, and then told in a gruff voice to stand up. Gasping, I staggered to my feet, and nearly fell over as I was prodded onwards. As I looked up, my eyes recognized something. I was in a small circular room with a door at one end. But that's not what made me halt on my tracks.

Other kids were there, all of them my age or older. They were clustered at the other side, some crying, others looking angry. I walked uneasily over to them. I looked behind me at the men. They were standing at the door, their faces covered with masks. I glanced back.

"Why are we here?" I whispered. "Who are you?"

The tallest boy, who seemed sixteen, stepped forward. "My name is James. We don't know." He said quietly. "What's your name?"

"Alice."

"Great. We know her name. Does she have any superpowers?" a nasal voice rang out. I looked behind him. A dark haired boy was lounging against the wall, chewing gum. I glared at him.

"You don't look very scared." I spat.

"'Cos I don't have too." He sniggered. "This is obviously a set up on a TV show. I should know. My whole family is in show business."

"Wow." I said sourly. "How'd you end up on TV? With looks like yours, you could end up on, I'm a pig, get me out of here."

He stiffened. His eyes flashed. "You little b–"

"Oi!"

We turned. A man in a white coat with several men with masks stood at the door. He didn't look at his men as he said curtly, "Get them to the Ultra-Chamber."

Suddenly, we were surrounded with black masked men, who began to herd us towards the door. I stayed where I was, but was pushed roughly forward. I was the last child through the door, and we began to walk down the middle of a large room that was empty save TV screens on the walls as well as doors marked with words I didn't understand. We clustered together as we walked. I looked around, my eyes narrowed.

_Find an exit! Remember this room, Alyss._

"There _is_ no exit." I murmured.

The girl in front of me looked at me strangely.

_Do it._

"Fine! Give me time." I snapped. The guards looked at me. I kept walking, my eyes flickering side to side. Finally, we stopped, and four more people joined the white-coated man. They looked at us, one of them rubbing his hands.

"Right!" the ringleader announced. He looked at the clipboard he had in his hand. "This all?" he asked the men behind us. They nodded. He sighed and looked at his list.

"Okay. Jove, get the five strongest and healthiest."

A white-coated man dragged three boys and two girls out and put them in a small group. The ringleader adjusted his glasses. With his thinning hair and watery blue eyes, he looked pathetic. His nametag read 'Doctor Heffel'.

I sneered mentally at the name.

"You," Doctor Heffel glanced at the first group. "Will be put into Ornithology."

The five teenagers were ushered into a door marked, 'Ornithology.' I felt scared for them.

_Ornithology is the study of birds._

"You tell me!" I hissed. Several heads turned in my direction.

"Jove, get the weakest." Doctor Heffel ordered.

Jove sized us up, his eyes resting on a pale, freckly boy with glasses. He pounced on him, and dragged out a girl so petite I thought she was at least ten. But she was my age. Doctor Heffel glanced at them before writing on his clipboard.

"Right. You two go in Neuroscience."

They were dragged through another door. As it slammed shut, I cringed.

_Neuroscience is the study of the brain._

"Shut up!" I snapped. Again, heads turned, and I saw Doctor Heffel purse his lips before continuing.

"I want…no. Oh, wait…yes. That's it. You, there." He pointed to a girl next to me. "And you…and you."

He looked at me curiously before sighing. He swallowed absently. "You're going into Ichthyology."

_Ichthyology is the study of fish._

The girl next to me whimpered as she was dragged off into the third last door. I felt sorry for her, and began to shake as I realized there were only five people left, including me. Three boys and two girls. I looked around. There were no windows! I started to hyperventilate.

_Cool it! _The Voice told me. _You might be put into a sanctuary. Be calm. Don't lose your head. And _don't_ think of the other children either. You can't help them. They're long gone._

"I think…ah. Yes. You four!" I froze as he pointed at me, but heaved a sigh of relief as the girl next to me was dragged to the front with the other three boys.

"You will be put into our newest unit." Doctor Heffel smiled slightly. "It's so new we don't even have name for it. So it is called, the Study Of Canis familiaris."

I thought I heard the voice gasp, but i had gasped at the same time, so I couldn't be sure.

_The Study of Canis Familiaris basically means the study of dogs._

A boy reacted violently as he was pushed forward, and was slapped hard by one of the scientists. He didn't seem to feel it. He struggled, and I watched, open mouthed, as he was lifted and carried through the doors with the other children.

The door slammed shut.

I looked up slowly, my eyes meeting Doctor Heffels. What was I going to be put in? Laser treatment? Brain surgery? I started to sweat.

As I looked into those cold eyes, I knew it was going to be far worse than I'd ever imagined.

* * *


	3. Chapter 5

**Hey, guys! Ok I'm just getting the hang of all this fanfiction stuff, so the chapters will be easier to read and not all together like 1,2 and 3**

**Enjoy!**

**

* * *

******

**Chapter 5**

He looked at his clipboard. Then looked at me. A furrow appeared between his eyebrows. "Eh…Jove?"

the strong scientist looked up. "Yes, Doctor?"

"Why is there one left?"

Jove shrugged. "I don't know. Doctor Redmand recommended her. Said it was to do with her brain. He requested, though, that she was to remain untested with genes until he arrived."

"A tester, eh?" Doctor Heffel looked me over, noting my wiry arms. "You'll do. Jove. Get it to Storage."

_Are you now a test subject?_

"Since coming here, apparantly." I muttered.

All of the scientists looked at me. Doctor Heffel appraised me.

"Indeed."

Grabbing my arm, Jove led me towards another door I hadn't seen. I struggled, but he hit me hard on the head. We passed through the door into dim light. I tried to right myself, but only saw stars and glimpses of tables and metal contraptions.

_No. Look closer._

I widened my eyes. As I was being dragged onwards, I realized something. I wasn't staring at metal contraptions. I was staring at _cages_. As I stared, I froze in horror.

Some of the cages weren't empty.

The cages were filled with people. Some were big, some were huge, but all of them were contained in cages. I felt like being sick. Something terrible had happened to some of them. A six year old girl had her whole chest encased in a glass case; I could see every organ in her torso. As I watched, a small piece of food was digested. Another boy had a lot of fungus growing over his body. He was wearing no clothes to conceal that fact. He saw me looking, made the noise of a cat, and pressed his furry body against the cage. His eyes were a pale green.

There were other, more horrible monsters in the cages. As Jove shoved me into a cage that was half my height, I was forced to sit. I shrank back as he padlocked it and pressed his face to the bars.

"You're not to escape." He told me. "You are a valuable tester. We are in need of someone of your age and gender."

He turned and left. I head the door slam. I started to shake slowly. Monsters with red eyes and furry bodies surrounded me. I whimpered and pressed my face to my knees.

_Look. Learn. Find out about these contraptions._

"You do it." I snapped. "Get into someone else's head for a change. Not mine. Get out. _Get out!"_

_No. I never can, and never will. _

"Then shut up!"

I pushed my tears back. I won't cry, I told myself. That's what babies do. And you're not a baby.

"Wow. They sent us a nutcase."

I looked up to glare at the cage next to me, but my mouth dropped open instead. A boy about my age sat in the cage next to me. His cage was bigger than mine, but as I stared I realized why. His back held two skeleton wings, like the stems of a wing on a bird. They were hard, shiny metal. The scary thing about it was that the metal was buried deeply into a mass of feathers. From a distance you probably wouldn't notice he had metal embedded in his wings. I saw white scars crisscrossing on his back, and the boy itself had dark hair and eyes and was wearing a pair of faded jeans. He had no shoes. He rolled his eyes.

"Didn't your mama ever tell you it's rude to stare?"

My face-hardened. "She's dead." I said bluntly.

Something passed in his face. He scrutinized me, his eyes softening. "Sorry." He offered. I nodded sharply. There was an awkward silence, before the wing boy spoke again.

"Why you here?"

"Kidnapped." I explained. "People from the government caught me. They got other kids as well." I paused for breath. "Why aren't you trying to escape?" I asked.

The wing boy laughed darkly. "Ha. Escape? You obviously haven't been here long."

"Five minutes."

"Even worse." He appraised me, his eyes narrowed. "What's your name?"

I thought about that. Should I tell him?

_Why not? You're both screwed. _

"No, we're not!" I snapped quickly. I looked to find wing boy staring at me, an amused expression on his face.

"Yes, I'm probably what you call a nutcase, okay?" I challenged him. "What's your name?" I shot. He looked surprised.

"Fexix. And yours?"

"Alice."

Fexix gave a bark of laughter. I glared at him again before looking around. I shivered.

"Yea. It's scary, isn't it?"

I turned to find Fexix watching me.

"Sometimes the experiments die in their cages. One day your neighbour is up and chatting, the next he's dead, 'cos some horrible test went wrong."

"What is this place?" I gasped. "_Where_ are we?"

Fexix's face darkened. "It's called the Institute. As for where it is, I don't know. They take kids from all around the world at any age under twenty – even if they haven't even been conceived yet. They do experiments that deform people – experiments that are banned for a reason. They test it on a person, and when that person dies or gets sick, they either keep them to note the results or throw them to the Scavengers."

"Scavengers?"

Even the Voice was listening. _You don't want to know what they can do._

"The Scavengers." Fexix repeated tonelessly. "They're the experiments that can't be killed. They go so wrong that nothing can be done to them. They…I guess you can call them guards. When it gets dark, they're released onto the grounds outside. So if anyone escapes, see, they get killed. They get fed every few days with the corpses of dead testers."

I swallowed hard.

_You need to escape! Do you hear me, Alyss? You must escape!_

"What happened to you? How long have you been here?" I asked hesitantly. I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

His face got even darker. "I got here 4 years ago."

He ignored my small gasp of horror. "I was twelve. They tried out small tests on me, and for a few months I was in this cage, 'cos they didn't really have anything to do with me. Then they came up with a new idea – Operation Net-Wing. They tried to install metal wings into my back as well as real bird genes. I don't know how long I was on my stomach." He paused.

"They worked, for a while." He smiled. "I could fly. But then Doctor Redmand – the head guy – wanted to improve my flight ability. The next thing I knew, I looked like a fallen angel and was in this cage."

He smiled at my expression. "Don't worry. It's worse for other people."

I looked around me, shivering. "What did they do to all these people?" I whispered. "What…_how_ could they use human beings?"

Fexix snorted. "Honey, with that tender heart you won't last five minutes in the testing world. See that fungus guy over there?" he pointed. I looked, and saw the boy I had seen earlier. He mewed and writhed in his cage.

"Ecology gone wrong." Fexix remarked casually. "Turns out he was allergic to chlorophyll. Don't ask me how." He surveyed the other cages. "See that girl over there with the scales?"

I glanced over. A nine year old with red, shiny scales sat in a cage. She had no clothes on, but something had happened to her body to make it deformed. Scales covered every inch of her body apart from her face. Long black nails spouted from her fingernails, and her eyes were a mix of red and amber. She hissed and turned away. As she turned, I glimpsed a small, short tail.

"Oh my god." I breathed. Fexix didn't laugh.

_It's horrible._

"Yea." He stared bitterly at the monsters that were no more than children. "But he won't help us now. If he was real, we wouldn't be here."

"Who? God?"

"Yea."

I was silent for a while.

"So they come for people…" I said slowly. "And they test on them. And in between they're dumped here. And if they die they're thrown away, but they are thrown away if the testing isn't going as planned as well."

"Yea. Pretty much." In the corner of my eye, I saw Fexix look at me. "What's wrong with _you_?"

I rolled my eyes and tapped my head. "I hear a Voice. Have ever since I was ten. Sometimes is goes away, but most of the time it's there. It's quite a talker."

I stared at the scars on my wrists. A faint memory rushed through my brain. Me, screaming. A glint of a knife. Feeling my own blood sliding down my throat. Having to wrap my wrists in bandages and stay in bed for weeks, to keep everyone away, to hide from everyone, watching myself waste away until _it_ came, calmed me, changed me, helped me back to normal. I was grateful to the Voice. It used to want me to kill myself. But it stopped. As I remembered it, I was the one sick of the Voice. I was the one who tried to get rid of it. But it healed me. I don't think I'd ever be less than grudgingly grateful.

"So you _are_ crazy."

I shook my head. "I don't know. You make your own opinion."

We fell silent. The room was filled with rustling and animal sounds. Someone was crying, and other was making a sound that didn't sound like any sound I've heard before. I curled up in my cage, closing my eyes. I wanted to go home. I wanted my room. I wanted my friend, Anna, and my dog, Heg. I even wanted the safe rooms of my school. I wanted to be anywhere but here.

I tightened my eyes. Even if it killed me, I'd escape. This wasn't me talking in my desperation. This was I talking serious. I had the Voice. I had my wits.

Even as the first tears started to fall, the Voice started murmuring in my ear...

_Goodnight, my angel...now its time to dream...and dream how wonderful your life will be..._

* * *

**By the way the song is Goodnight My Angel By Billy Joel xx**


	4. Chapter 6

**I feel special for no reason. Hug someone close to you. Hugging helps.**

**Sorry if im posting all at once, i've had this story on my computer for a while.**

**I'm sorry if i don't post for a week after this - I need to actually write more chapters lol.**

**Anyway, Enjoy - And Read and Review!**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Something hit me hard in the stomach. I wrenched my eyes open to find myself falling sideways, and struggled to catch myself. It was only then I realized that a white-coated man I had never seen before was dragging me. He shoved me, and I found it difficult to walk.

"I can walk, you know!" I snapped. He looked surprised. I walked behind him, but his arm was clutching onto my jumper. I was led through another hall, and then to the wide chamber with all the branched doors. I was led through a door marked, _Testing. _I started to shake. I was afraid.

I entered a room about the quarter the size of a football pitch. A long path down the middle led to a door at the other end of the room. Leading off the path laid machines and tables of chemicals and equipment. To my surprise there was a raised dais next to me that had very thin glass around it. A machine was pushed against its side. It looked like a stage.

The tall walls on either side seemed very thin. Even as I looked at them closely, I realized that they could be pushed aside to reveal the room beyond. I didn't know you were able to do that.

Suddenly, I veered left, and was facing a chair. Several men stood around it and a lot of strange equipment stood near the chair. I felt several eyes on me.

"Great. You have the subject, strap it to a chair." One ordered. He didn't have a badge on.

I objected as they strapped me to the chair, but they ignored me. They tied my wrists and waist to the chair, and then tied my ankles. I felt like a prisoner.

"What are you doing to me?" I snapped. "Let me go!"

A piece of cloth was tied round my mouth. I spat angrily into it as they strapped what felt like a helmet on my head, and stuck pieces of sticky paper attached to wires. I couldn't move. I felt a tingling sensation move around my body, pulsing like a heartbeat. It was only then I realized it _was_ my heartbeat – they were sending small electric currents throughout my body to monitor my heart.

I strained against my bonds, but they wouldn't budge. I heart my heartbeat accelerate, and to my fear and shock the beeping sound of the monitor stopped altogether. There was a moment of shocked silence...and then the monitor started beeping again. A unified sigh of relief swept through the scientists. After that, everything was so strange and scientific I had trouble realizing what it was for.

They made me swallow a blue liquid, and then shined a light on me. I looked down, and nearly screamed when I saw all the veins on my body were stark blue. The scientists made me stand and walk and run on the spot. They wrote down the result on a piece of paper and muttered among themselves. I longed for the Voice to come, but he never did. I wanted reassurance, but I doubted I would get it.

There were few things that were precious to me, but those few things made me who I was.

Finally, after hours of meaningless tests, they took the equipment off me and allowed me to go to my cage. As I walked back to the main hall – the room with the categorized doors – I caught a glimpse of fur disappearing though the Canis familiaris study door. I shivered and sent a small prayer to them.

As I walked past the other cages, I noticed some were empty, including the boy who had an allergic reaction in Ecology. I ran into my cage and didn't look back, hearing the padlock clicking shut. I stared at the wall until I heard his footsteps disappear, thinking. I wanted to escape. But I couldn't.

I was surprised to find Fexix gone. I brooded in my cage. At last I couldn't take it anymore, and curled up on my side.

My last thoughts were desperate.

_I'm officially a test subject. I wonder if it's possible to strangle yourself?_

* * *

When I opened my eyes, Fexix was back. I sat up, wondering what was wrong. He was staring at his hands. I glanced at them, and felt shock run through me as I realized they were shaking.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded jerkily, his lips trembling. "They thought putting electric bolts through me would start my flying." He gasped. "They forgot that my wings were metal."

He curled up as much as he could and closed his eyes. I felt bitter and angry that the scientists could do such a thing. They were evil, horrible, terrible, people…

Fexix snorted. I frowned at him before studying the other testers. There was a new one. I studied it. The boy had small white feathers on his back, and even as I watched they sprouted into full-blown wings. I slapped a hand over my mouth to stop myself screaming. I stared in fascinated horror. The boy looked at his wings before his eyes met mine. My mouth dropped open.

"_James?"_

It was James. The guy who had introduced himself to me a few days ago when I had first entered the Institute. I stared at him. His cage was close to mine.

"What happened?" I gasped. "What did they _do_ to you?"

He pursed his lips. "I don't know." He finally murmured. "Most of what I remember…when we went through the Ornithology door, we were put into cages. Then they took Sally – they operated on her – and put chemicals into her. She started to sprout wings – like I am now. I don't know why, but they put me to sleep…"

"Anaesthetic." I breathed.

"And I woke up here." He smiled grimly. "How are you holding up? What did they do to you? Where are we, anyway?"

"I'm fine. They haven't done anything to me yet." I confided. I told him what I had learned from Fexix. "So, you see." I finished in a whisper. "We need to get out of here."

"Like I said before." Fexix entered the conversation. "Good luck with that. Hey," he told James. "I'm Fexix. Looks like they made another version of me, but with slightly more practicality."

James looked at the skeleton wings. "They…they…" he managed to choke out.

"Yea." Fexix tried to get into a comfortable position. "Damn things. I can never lie on my back now."

James opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment the door banged open. We turned our heads expectantly. Several black masked men came towards us and started unlocking some of the cages. They left the children who had fungus or had a skin condition. Some tried to bolt, but they were zapped with a small stick in one of the men's hands. As my cage opened, I obediently stepped out. I didn't want to get zapped.

We were ushered along another hall into a wide, white spaced area. It had toilet cubicles and showers set into the walls, with a few towels lying on the floor. "Do what you must." One of the men snapped. They folded their arms and glared at us until a few of the younger children undressed and began to shower. As everyone else followed their example, I stared in horror around the room. "In front of all these people?" I gasped. Fexix looked unimpressed as well. "This is going to be embarrassing." He muttered. "You think?" I demanded. "Oh my lord!"

"Okay, let's do this maturely." Fexix thought out loud. "Get a corner."

We nabbed the very last shower in the corner. Unfortunately, it only had cold water. But we weren't bothered.

"Give me the towel." Fexix commanded. I stared at him before handing it over. He held it out so no one could see my torso and closed his eyes.

"Shower." I gaped at him before I realized he meant it. With my cheeks flushing scarlet I ripped my clothes off and rubbed myself down. The water was freezing, and in a few minutes my teeth were chattering. Scrubbing hard, I managed to get most of the grime off before shoving my clothes back on again.

"Your turn." I managed through chattering teeth. I held the towel and closed my eyes. I heard his clothes hit the ground, and he started to shower.

Suddenly I had this strangest urge to open my eyes. I kept them closed, but my eyelids started to ache with the effort. I'd never been attracted to boys, but I wasn't exactly a dog. I mean, when I first went to school the popular boys asked me out. Once they realized I was a nutcase, they avoided me like the plague. Well, so did the rest of the student population.

"Done."

I opened my eyes in time to see a lightly tanned and much muscled stomach disappear as he grabbed the towel from me and rubbed himself down. I swallowed hard before I turned away, my cheeks flushing red.

Don't look, don't look, don't look…

_Like what you're seeing?_

I tore my eyes away. Ok, I looked. Ok, I was look_ing._ I'm not going to lie; he was a pretty good looking guy.

"Finished." Fexix muttered, seemingly unaware of my mental angst. "Lets go."

The guards were starting to round us up again, and zapped some of the smaller children who weren't quick enough. We were taken back to our cages, and as I clambered into mine I felt long forgotten claustrophobia creep into my veins.

The guards conferred with each other before walking away, their faces set. A few of the younger children started crying bitterly, and I pressed against the side of my cage, my arm reaching futilely through the bars.

After a few minutes I gave up, withdrawing my hand. I closed my eyes, tying to rid myself of this nightmare.

* * *

Someone was screaming, crying in their sleep. I woke up to the sound of bitter sobbing, and turned and twisted in the near darkness, searching for the source. I finally found it – it was the fungus boy who was allergic to chlorophyll.

I strained through the bars, something awakening in me, something that urged me to comfort him, to save him, to stop his pain.

"Shh, its ok, its fine, please, stop crying, it'll be ok..."

The boy continued to scream, and in the darkness I saw his face contorted in horror and pain. Suddenly he began to gurgle, and I felt a hand grip my heart.

"No." I whispered.

My straining hands fell powerless, my body numbing. My mind was screaming at me to move, to break the bars, to save him – everything that society had taught me, save his life, save him; save him…it was a chant in my head, never ending, never stopping.

I watched in fascinated horror at the experiment before me.

He threw back his head, his eyes casting a frantic, mad glow. His body began to twist and shudder in ways that a body was never meant to be twisted and shuddered, like a sweet wrapper twisted over and over again, until I heard bones crack and splinter.

He made another sound, a horrifying, grating sound that seared into my brain, left me gasping in pitying horror. I saw his hands convulse and turn into gnarled crooks, and I saw his body turn an unearthly, lingering green.

His hands flew to his throat, and he made pathetic gasping noises like he was desperately trying to breath. My own breath caught in my throat.

No.

Please, no.

And then his eyes rolled back, the light in them extinguishing, and slumped limply on his cage floor. His tongue lolled, revealing to be green, and I stared, my mouth hanging open.

At that moment, the minute he stopped breathing, the world stopped around me.

Pain, fear, sadness, anger… all seemed to melt away from me, leaving me numb. The tears that had been falling unheeded dried, and for the second time that night I withdrew my outstretched arms.

It was that moment that all my hope, dreams, aspirations and happiness ceased to exist along with the boy with fungus all over his body, laying on his cage floor, his eyes opening like some sick joke while I stared.

I was alone now.

I had nothing left.

**Sorry for all the morbidness...I apologize to those who have a weak stomach x**


	5. Chapter 7

**Thank you to the 2 who have reviewed so far. In honour I spent a whole afternoon introducing our merry band of mutants to Alyss.**

**Enjoy! xx**

Max POV

"Max…"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Aw, c'mon!"

"No."

"Fine." Gazzy flew back to fly beside Iggy, his face set into a pout.

I sighed and rubbed my temples, groaning inwardly. Gazzy wanted to stop for a little 'supplies' reimbursing. E.g. He wanted to pick up bomb supplies. In fact, I bet Iggy had put him up to it…

I turned my head and glared at Iggy, who somehow sensed me glaring at him and sent a sheepish smile in my direction. I bit back the smile that threatened to reveal how amused I was and turned back, my eyes scanning the forest below us.

Unfortunately, we ended up in London - halfway across the world, I know - thanks to the Voice's coordninates. We spent a short vacation there, seeing the big sights, before I decided to go back to America to see my mum.

We hadn't encountered any erasers or flyboys for a while – a while meaning two weeks – and for that I was eternally grateful. My flock needed a break, some time when they can wind down and relax.

_Thank you, Max! Don't worry too much about us, you need a break too!_

I looked over at angel, who smiled….well. I know this has been said, but she smiles so…angelically.

_Angel?_

_Yes, Max?_

_What did I say about respecting other people's privacy?_

_Sorry Max._

I turned to look back at my flock, lifting my wing slightly so I rose on a smooth updraft.

Angel was flying next to Nudge, who was speaking non-stop, as usual. I didn't quite catch what she was saying, but I caught the word 'Gossip Girl'. Angel seemed to be daydreaming, but Nudge didn't even seem to notice. Gazzy and Iggy were flying close to each other, whispering and doing actions with their hands every now and then. I didn't want to know what they were talking about. Probably another bomb.

And Fang. Fang was flying a bit above us, practising what he had learnt from the hawks. He soared gracefully before dipping one wing and banking left, skimming our heads to soar on our left instead. I saw his brow was furrowed in thought, and as I pursed my lip he looked down at me, raising a quizzical eyebrow.

I felt heat rush to my face, and looked down in a hurry.

Damn him for making me blush. I never blush.

Actually, that's a lie. I _almost_ never blush.

I saw a small clearing that would suit our purposes, and thanked the lord that I had noticed it in time.

"Guys! Down to that clearing."

We dived downwards, our wings tucked in close to our bodies, and just before we did a face plant on the ground we swooped out our wings, hovering above the ground before landing gracefully. I surveyed the clearing, thinking hard.

"Ok. Gazzy, go with Nudge to find some firewood. Fang, I'll help you set up the tents. Angel, go find some water, but not that far, and fill a few saucepans with water."

"And me?"

I smiled at him. "I'm smiling Iggy. You help Angel find a stream or something – you got the best ears. And Angel?"

_Yes, Max?_

"Could you formally invite a few fish to dinner?"

"Of course!" Angel cried happily. She grabbed Iggy's hand and skipped away, with me smiling at their backs.

"You've got a goofy smile on your face." Fang smirked.

"Do not." I snapped, kicking some leaves out the way and trying to find stones. After finding some I placed them in a circle for the fire, and went to help Fang with our tents.

"Did too."

"Did not!"

"Did too."

"Did NOT!"

"Deny it all you want, Maximum, but you had a stupid smile on your face." Fang snickered at my outraged expression.

I rolled my eyes, grabbing the other end of a tent he was setting up. "Well, Mr TDAS, what do ya think we should do next?"

"TDAS?" Fang pressed his lips together, restraining a laugh.

"Tall, Dark and Silent."

"I think you should fit handsome in there as well."

I snorted a very unladylike snort. "You wish."

Gazzy and Nudge appeared, their arms filled with dry logs and acorns. We put them in the circle of stones, and when Angel and Iggy came back we soon had saucepans of fish sizzling away for our supper.

The reason we actually had saucepans tonight was curtsey of Angel. She convinced a man – not that I approved – using her mind powers to go buy us camping equipment. It was heavy to carry, but the kids had been begging not to sleep in trees again.

Then they did something I could never resist.

_Bambi eyes._

Muttering under my breath, I brought myself back to the present in time for Iggy to hand me a napkin of smoking fish. I dug in, and for the next few minutes no one spoke, too busy concentrating on their meagre meal. Well, to a normal human it would have been a good wholesome meal. To us genetically modified 2 avian bird kids, it was a light snack.

When we'd finished we cleared away our food and packed away the cooking equipment, something began to vibrate in my pocket. I realized it was my phone – again, curtsey of Angel, this was one of the things I thanked her for – and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Max?"

I recognized my mother's voice, and unaware of it a smile touched my lips. "Mum!"

"How are you, honey?" she said, laughing. "Oh, and the flock of course."

"I'm fine, they're fine, we're all fine." I assured her. "We're visiting you soon."

"Guess I'll have to stack up on food supplies." She laughed. I heard someone speak in the background, and then a small shriek.

"Honey, Ella wants a word." There was a small amount of static while the phone was being transferred, and then Ella's delighted voice squealed into the phone.

"Max! How are you? Are you ok? You're coming to visit soon, I can't wait! How are the flock? Does Nudge still talk 24/7? Is Fang still TDAS? Does Iggy still cook like a world class chef? Does Angel still annoy you with her mind reading? Does…"

"Ella!" I interrupted. "I'm fine, I'm ok, yes, I'm visiting soon, the flock is ok, yes Nudge does still speak 24/7, Fang is still TDAS, Iggy cooks like a universal chef and Angel can…occasionally…annoy me."

I looked over at Angel, who grinned sleepily. Her head was resting on Fangs shoulder, but he was leaning away as far as possible from her. I smirked.

"…do you? I mean, it isn't far." Ella was speaking again. I started to listen.

"Sorry, Ella?"

"I was just saying that when you come maybe we could go to the cinema and see that new film out, that one where that girl is in this factory where animals are being tested and then she ha…the…we…no…le…sto…"

"Ella?" I asked curiously. The line was breaking up; I couldn't hear her coherently anymore. "Ella, you're breaking up!"

"May…alt…wha…oh…my…god…he…"

And then a voice was telling me that my caller had been disconnected.

I frowned at it, slipping the phone into my pocket, when Angel stiffened and looked up.

"Max?" she asked, her eyes wide. I immediately froze. Grabbing my bag, I took up a fighting stance. Everyone else followed suit.

"What, honey?" I said quietly. She pointed above our heads.

"Flyboys."

I leapt upwards and spread my wings, turning my body upwards to face the flyboys attacking us.

I guess not quickly enough.

Before I had time to register why a fist and a syringe were heading towards me, I felt a prick in my arm, Fang's voice crying, "Max!" and everything around me disappeared to darkness.

Alyss's POV

I saw six kids being dragged into our cage room and then thrown into cages. I glared at the robots who had thrown them in, wincing mentally at their glowing red eyes. Fexix had been taken away again, leaving me alone until these newcomers had shown up. I looked over at the kids again, noting the three eldest. Just as I was about to go back to sleep again the oldest looking girl started to awake.

She had blond hair and quite a slim figure, but it was hard to tell under the baggy hoodie she was wearing and all the dirt and grime on her. She looked about my age. She opened her eyes, her hands wandering around her, before they hit the bars of her cage with a loud _twang. _She stiffened, all the colour leaving her face, before she opened her eyes, stark terror in them.

She looked around her, shaking her head a little, and when she turned back all the fear had been replaced by cold determination. I cleared my throat, and she whipped her head around to face me.

"Who are you?" she demanded in a whisper.

"Alyss." I replied. I gestured awkwardly to her. "Who are you?"

She wiped some dirt off her face. "Max."

Suddenly Max seemed to remember something, and turned to face the other newcomers. She took a deep breath and blasted out, "REPORT!"

They all jerked awake. One who had tanned skin and brown eyes and was dressed in black let out a small grunt while massaging his back.

Max nodded. "Nudge?"

A mocha skinned girl of about eleven coughed. She had dark hair and a nicely shaped face, and as she tested out her foot she called out, "I think I've sprained my foot."

The next to speak was a boy of about eight. He had blond hair and bright blue eyes, and he looked so sweet I almost said _awww_. Well, that was before he let out a loud and smelly fart. "I'm ok, Max." he called. "Just a loose tooth."

"I'm fine, Max." another boy called out. He looked about my age as well, with brown hair and strangely glazed blue eyes. I looked closer, and he looked directly at me. "Whoever's staring at me, yes, I'm blind."

I flushed and looked away, and heard a little girl's voice call out sweetly, "Max? I'm good."

I turned to see the most innocent looking six-year-old I have ever seen, with curly blind hair and dazzling blue eyes. I felt anger when I saw a bruise on her cheek, and my fists clenched. How dare they hurt a small angel!

"That's my name! How'd you guess?" she giggled sweetly.

I stared at her in shock. "What?"

"That's my name." she gestured impatiently. "Angel." She pointed with a dainty hand. "And that's my brother, The Gasman…"

The eight year old snorted. "Don't ask." He mumbled. "Gazzy for short."

"That's Iggy…"

"Yo." The blind boy waved a hand. "Send me a picture of her, Angel."

Angel closed her eyes, and a minute later Iggy grinned. "Your hair's all messy." He told me.

I glared at him.

"That's Fang…"

Fang grunted again, and Angel frowned before pointing at Max. "And that's Max!"

I let this all digest before asking curiously, "Why are you here?"

Max looked down before looking back at me. Her teeth were clenched and her breath was coming fast. I saw Angel's face turn into one of extreme pity before she closed her eyes. Max swallowed before she began to talk.

And her story left me speechless.

* * *

**I figured that since everyone knows Max's story, I shouldn't have to explain it all. This takes place before MR4 **

**xx**


	6. Chapter 8

**I just realized total isn't in this. **

**Lets pretend, for the sake of my story, he didn't exist. **

**Enjoy! x**

Fexix POV

They kept injecting me with a chemical I didn't know that made my back burn and itch like it was on fire. Having blood vessels over metal made it rust and weaken, and I was beginning to get weaker and sicker every time they injected me with that stupid syringe.

I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep.

I was dying.

They kept me in this room, where I was strapped to a bed and was being force fed every few hours. Of course I kept puking it up again. They never learn. Ever.

They seemed to finally finish whatever they were doing to me and sent me back to Storage. I noticed six newcomers, and nodded wearily to them. My back burned, my throat was parched, my lips were dry and my hands shook.

I couldn't lie on my back, and so had to lean awkwardly against the cage to try and sleep.

It didn't work.

I never slept anymore.

So instead I listened to the six children talk to Alyss, hoping they'd lull me to sleep.

I learned that there was a blind kid called Iggy, a six year old called Angel, a boy called Gazzy, another boy who hardly ever said anything who was called Fang, a girl who hardly ever shut up called Nudge, and finally, the leader was called Max.

Max. What a strange name for a girl. Maybe it's short for Maxine?

_No, her name's Maximum Ride. _Angel's voice said in my head._ I'm a mind reader; I know what you're thinking. Don't worry. You can trust us._

I kept my eyes closed. _Hello Angel. My name is Fexix._

_You look awful, _She told me._ What did they do?_

I felt her sifting through my memories, and in panic I stiffened, and somehow shut her out.

_You don't want to know, honey._

My eyes tightened as a face rose unbidden in my mind; a woman, with auburn hair and sparkling green eyes. She was laughing at something, her eyes lit with mirth.

I winced and clenched my eyes shut, willing her to disappear. I wasn't gonna see her again. I felt the pain threaten to cleave me in two.

A voice came over the speaker above our heads. "Attention. Ready Storage for Doctor Redmand. Attention."

I put my head in my hands, holding back my sob.

No.

I definitely was never gonna to see my mum again.

Alyss POV

I sat and stared at Max as she finished her amazing story. I have never heard anything so heartbreaking, so adventurous, so…

I couldn't even think of a word. I looked over her 'flock' feeling sadness and a strange connection. I've never fit in either. Maybe, if we got through this, they'd take me with them.

I suddenly felt like someone had punched me in the stomach.

Don't even think about hoping for _that_, Alyss. This wasn't my voice. This was me.

You don't have wings; you don't have any special powers. Get your head out of the clouds.

The door banged, and I looked up to see Fexix kicked into his cage, his face pale. I noticed how thin and scraggy he looked from a few hours, and how exhausted he looked. I watched him lean back uncomfortably against his cage, his eyes closed. Occasionally he'd grimace, but I had no idea what he was grimacing at.

"So what's your story, Alyss? I like Alyss, it's a pretty name. I like the way it's spelt, it's like different, which is cool. But then again, being different isn't always good 'cos I mean, we're different, and what we do is cool – not that having wings isn't cool, I love to fly and everything…oh! What if I couldn't fly? I've always wondered if…"

_Smack!_

Iggy's hand came clapping upon her mouth through their cage bars. She glared at him, but I gave a small sigh of relief.

"You sure know how to talk."

"That's Nudge." Iggy rolled his eyes. "So anyway, what _is_ your story?"

Everyone was suddenly facing me, and I felt suddenly petrified, like a rabbit caught in the headlights.

"I lived in Crieff." I said slowly. "With my…dad."

"What about your mum?" Gazzy asked.

Max shot Gazzy a look which clearly meant, 'thanks for being so tactless', but I was used to that sort of reaction.

"Nah, it's ok. My mum died giving birth to me. I heard from a friend that she was really nice."

I bit my cheek to restrain the tears.

"Anyway, I lived with my dad until a few days ago, when these inspectors showed up at my school. That same day I met with them at the school, at this meeting, and they told me they'd accidentally wiped ALL my records at the school. Then I had to sign this paper saying I was under government care or something, then I found out that I was being adopted due to the fact my dad wasn't a suitable carer. I tried to run, but they caught me and put me here."

I paused. "Where _is_ here, exactly?"

"In a secret facility at the edge of London. It's called The Institute." Angel announced.

I stared at her. "No way. How could I have driven in a few hours from Crieff to London?"

"They have their ways…" Iggy intoned, holding up his hands like a priest. The little kids giggled, and I smiled briefly despite myself.

"Did you pick up anything else, Angel?" Max asked.

Angel furrowed her head in thought. "No, sorry Max." She suddenly winced and glared at Fexix, who by all appearances was asleep.

Suddenly, a voice came over the loud speaker. "Attention. Ready Storage for Doctor Redmand. Attention."

I thought I heard a small sob come from Fexix, but I dismissed that thought. A few men came and uncovered a few empty cages, and I shuddered at who would be going in them.

And then the door opened, and Doctor Redmand walked in.

Max POV

This Doctor Redmand guy had dark hair and brown eyes. I committed his face to memory, making a mental note to break his nose later.

He walked in and walked straight over to my cage, his face impassive. I saw my flock stiffen, Fang especially, and I saw Alyss glare coldly at the doctor.

He knelt beside my cage, and gave me a wide smile.

"Maximum Ride, what a surprise."

His voice was not what I was expecting; it was light, controlled, easy going. And I felt distrust the minute he spoke.

"Now, now, didn't your mother ever teach you manners, Doctor? You know me, I don't know you, and you've captured me and stuck me and my flo- friends in dog crates." I smiled brightly at him. "Please tell me why."

He looked thrown off course. I smiled wider at him.

_Angel, get into his mind and find out what you can._

_Already on it._

I gestured around me. "Love what you've done to the place. Really. It feels almost homey now. I mean, look at the guards. They've had an actual wash!"

Doctor Redmand stared coolly at me. "You are a pathetic, worthless experiment. It'll be a joy to retire you."

"It'll be a joy to break your nose." I snapped back. "Oh, and by the way, touch my flock and you die."

"Oh really?" Doctor Redmand sneered. "Well, I'm sorry to ruin your perfect illusion, Maximum, but your situation is helpless. You're in a cage, underground and far away from any sort of help."

"I can't wait to give you that broken nose." I said dreamily. "It might help your looks…I mean god, even your own mother couldn't love you…"

Doctor Redmand snapped up to his knees, his eyes cold. He turned and started to stalk away, before something seemed to stop him. He turned and smiled nastily at Alyss, who narrowed her eyes in blatant hatred.

"Alyss Ridell." He said. He walked menacingly towards her, slinking like a cat.

She glared harder, her hands clenched into fists. "You bastard." She said coldly. I saw Angel's eyes widen, and made another mental note to tell Alyss to refrain from swearing in front of the little kids.

"You're quite wrong about that, Alyss." he told her. He crouched down and peered at her. "You're fortunate to be here."

"I'm sure being stuck in a cage and being tested on is like winning the lottery." Alyss said sharply.

I congratulated her silently.

"Oh, but it is, Alyss. _If_ you help us." he leaned closer, and she shrank back, showing her first sign of fear.

"You could have anything you wanted, Alyss." he whispered. "You could be living in luxury, with a big house, a nice school, lots of friends…and a _family_."

I saw her face pale and wince at the last word. I listened closer, scrutinizing her face. "Shut up." She said, but her face lacked conviction.

Doctor Redmand leaned so close his face nearly touched the bars. "No more beatings, Alyss." he told her softly. "A loving mother, who'd tuck you into bed at night and laugh with you, a little brother or sister, who always counts on you to keep them safe, and gives you hugs every day. A caring father…"

I saw hope and sadness on her face before she shook her head, her expression wavering between disbelief and anger. "Stop." She whispered. "Please, stop."

"A caring, understanding, _gentle_ father." Doctor Redmand whispered triumphantly. "A family, who loves you, wants you to be their daughter. It could be all yours, Alyss. The life you never had."

Alyss stared at him. I saw hope shine in her eyes, and felt a small twinge of sadness. I thought she'd be against them. I'd come to like her. but now, I guess she was added to my list of 'Who Not To Trust…'

And then Alyss spat in his face.

He lunged back, roaring in anger. She crouched close to the bars. I saw tears in her eyes, and her voice was shaking with barely controlled anger.

"I'm never gonna have a loving family." She spat. "I'm a freak, I'm a psycho, always have been, always will be. You can dangle stuff like that in front of my face like a lifeline, but I'd rather drown in the deepest part of the ocean than side with you disgusting bastards."

He turned and walked out, slamming the door shut.

After a few minutes of stunned silence Alyss broke down, tears sliding down her face. She made no noise, and I couldn't help but stare at her. She seemed so…broken. Yea. That was the word. She was _broken_.

"Max?" Angel called.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Alyss's dad is horrible." Angel said, close to tears. "If you could hear what she was thinking of, you'd cry!" An actual tear slid down her cheek. "It's so sad!"

"Don't think about it, Angel. What did you find out, honey?" Fang said suddenly.

I shot him a grateful look and mouthed 'thank you.' he grinned, and I suddenly had to turn to face Angel. He had his smile. The smile that made the world spin a little faster and make everything seem all right.

"That man is a bad, bad man, Max." Angel actually trembled. Her face was scared. "He wants to retire us as well as the erasers, so he can have his flyboys."

"No good." I frowned. "We're gonna have to escape soon. If only they wouldn't send the flyboys in…"

"Max, you don't understand." Angel swallowed hard. Gazzy reached through the bars and tried to hug her in vain, but his arms were too small. I felt tears in my eyes at the pitiful sight.

"What is it, Angel?" Iggy asked quietly. Nudge, for once, was completely silent.

"What?" she squeaked, and my thoughts took on a momentary wry note. What was I thinking? Of course Nudge wasn't going to be silent. I looked at Angel, who looked like she was about to cry.

"He wanted her." she pointed at the silently crying Alyss. "She has a voice in her head. He wants to try and separate it from her."

I stared at Angel, speechless. "Wha…what?"

"That's not all." A few tears slid down her cheek. I felt pain for her, my little six year old baby who has to hear all of this…_all the time._

"He also wants to see if he can make more of _us_." She gestured to the flock. "But somehow accelerate the process so that the subject doesn't have to be a baby. It can be any age."

I turned at Fang, who looked equally horrified. "But…how?" I groped for words. "How could they manage that? Unless they grew in like, a week…"

I stared at Angel, who was full on crying now.

"That's all they need." She sobbed bitterly. "A week. To see how fast her body changes. And how long until she dies."

I stared at Alyss and Angel in silence. Alyss kept crying quietly, her back turned to us, her shoulders shaking.

I met the eyes of my flock, determination starting to burn. "We will escape guys. We _have_ to."

I met Fang's gaze without blushing, my eyes narrowed. "Just wait until I break Doctor Redmand's nose."

* * *

**Like it so far? **

**I have a plan.**

**I'M NOT GONNA WRITE ANY MORE CHAPTERS TILL I GET 10 REVIEWS!!**

**MWAH AHAHAHAHAAHA**

**Sorry. Love to all. **

**xx**


	7. Chapter 9

**To my eleven reviewers - you rock.**

**Seriously. **

**Go treat yourself to a cookie :)**

**Thanx and Enjoy xx**

* * *

Alyss POV

They came for me the next day. Well, I thought it was the next day. Whatever time it was it was a while after they threw some food at us. I was hungry, cold, and badly in need of some sleep. Ordinary guards came, and even though I kicked and punched and screeched like a bloody banshee I couldn't throw them off.

Just before I left the room Angel's voice sounded suddenly in my head.

_Max says try not to be scared, and give that doctor Redmand a broken nose._

I smiled weakly. I hadn't known Max long, but she seemed like a no-nonsense, get-in-my-way-and-I'll-knock-you-out kind of person. I also sensed a more maternal side, whenever she looked at Angel or the rest of her flock.

She seemed the girl I'd always wanted to be; strong, beautiful and loved.

As I was dragged into the Neuroscience lab, despair turned my thoughts bleak. I'd probably never be like her.

I'd have to survive this first.

I was dragged past huge machines and these horrible tanks with floating…_things_…in them. They looked like indistinguishable body parts; all lumped together to form a mass of floating gloop.

As we walked on, the machines got bigger, and so did the things in them. Between each tank there was a table, and on that table were actual, real to god people.

I spotted the brainy looking boy from a few days ago, and stopped short.

That boy's brain was in the tank. His body was being kept alive – somehow – by this strange machine that beeped. The top of his head had been cut off, and where his scalp should have been a metal case was secured. His eyes saw me and stared, and I resisted the urge to be sick.

I was pushed along again, but this time I couldn't concentrate properly. I heard faint moans and occasionally screams of pain all around me, but I couldn't look anymore. Out of the corner of my eye I saw this deformed hag being lowered slowly into acid, her eyes wide and her mouth open in a soundless scream of endless pain.

I realized I had stopped. I looked up to see a _huge_ tank, with all sorts of floating wires attached on its insides, and a long breathing mask hanging over the side. It was yet to be filled up with water.

A body sized machine waited by its side, looking like a crane more than anything else. Other scientists were looking at these computers that surrounded this single big tank, muttering and pointing and writing on clipboards.

Suddenly, I was pushed towards the crane. I shrieked and backpedalled, but a man grabbed my shoulders and roughly shoved me in. I was turned to ace my onlookers as the machine moved and encased three thick slides of metal at shoulder height, waist height then calf height.

I started screaming as it lifted me up and lowered me into the tank, with me shrieking and screaming and showing the colourful extent of my vocabulary.

It released me, and before I could move the metal cords lifted of their own power and lunged at me, suctioned to my skin in the most painful way. And then a helmet came crashing down on my, head, and I felt small pinpricks of pain all along my skull, like nails were being pressed lightly into my head.

And then the tank began to fill with water.

The cords tightened so I was barely dangling above the ground, struggling helplessly like a fly caught in a spider's web. The cold water inched past my toes, and I started to hyperventilate.

_"Let go of me!_ I can't bloody breathe _underwater_!"

A man got onto the crane and was lifted so he could reach my head. He lifted this clear cord with and placed it on my face. My nose and mouth were covered.

Suddenly a tube was inserted halfway down my wind pipe. I chocked and gagged, but found if I stayed very still and breathed very slowly, it didn't bother me much.

Wires automatically stuck themselves into my ears. The water crept past my waist. I started shivering. The water was _cold_.

A mask for my eyes was lowered slowly and placed on my head. And then the man in the crane left my tank. A grinding sound reverted around the rapidly filling tank, and I looked up to see a lid lowering slowly over the top of the tank.

I felt fear; hot, burning like lightning, filling my veins with mindless terror. I began kicking and screaming and gasping, but then began to choke due to the breathing tube down my throat. I paused to regain my breath, but froze as my shoulders tickled.

The cold water inched past my shoulders and to my neck, and then past the breathing tube and my ears. I watched in shock as my vision became unclear; depth perception was lost and the people on the other side of the glass wavered uncertainly.

I sucked in a breath as the water rose above my head, completely submerging me in water. I felt like I was scuba diving, but in a very small swimming pool.

Suddenly my head tingled, and every part of my body itched and scratched and prickled like I was sticking my finger in a socket. I realized as my body gradually numbed they were running electricity through me.

And then the biggest shock of all hit me.

I was in a tank of water.

Electrical cords were running electricity through my veins.

Chemistry class had taught me one thing in all my ten years at school.

Never put electricity with water.

Before I could finish that thought, something sparked and I was thrust into incredible, inescapable, unbelievable pain.

* * *

My body convulsed and twisted and arched, and my mouth was open in a silent scream. My eyes were wide open, my body stiff.

The pain was incredible.

I couldn't pass out, I couldn't do anything.

Bubbles escaped my breathing mask and into the churning water that was heating by the second.

_ALYSS! _

My voice was back! I had a brief moment of joy before it was swallowed in the pain again like every other emotion I had. Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop…

_Hold on! Keep fighting, Alyss! Don't let go!_

My lips numbed. I felt like I was suffocating, my mouth dry.

_No_. I tried to say. _I won't_.

And then the Voice let out a scream of pain and fury that ricocheted through my brain and around the tank.

Before I could grasp what had just happened through the haze of pain, I blacked out.

* * *

I came around slowly.

My whole body was numb, my muscles weak, my body aching. I heard people speaking, shouting, and arguing. I was reminded of my father and his girlfriends, and how they used to fight all the time. The water fell past my toes, and my head fell forward, the muscles useless.

With a popping noise the cords released me, and the helmet lifted itself off my head. The glasses fell off and I realized the light was too bright, too shiny.

And then I fell sideways, gravity pulling me down, the water no longer there to catch me. I hit the floor with a loud _smack_, feeling so weak and powerless. The breathing tube was pulled out of my throat, and I coughed up water violently. My mind was silent. Completely and utterly silent. I felt panic.

_Voice?_

Nothing answered.

_Voice!_

I felt fear rise, and struggled to keep it under control. But the scientists were tapping the glass and peering at me, taking notes and talking loudly. Their voices were muffled by the thick glass, and with a sob I turned away.

I curled myself into a ball, waiting, praying, pleading for the voice to return. Without it I wouldn't survive, couldn't survive. Without it I was the one thing I had strained to escape all these years.

Alone.

Third Person POV

"It's done." Jeb announced quietly to Doctor Redmand. "We no longer see active neuroses in her brain, and although her brain activity is still up and running, there is no more evidence to suggest a second conscience."

Doctor Redmand looked at the shivering girl on the tank floor. She was crying silently, calling out a name brokenly.

"Are you sure this won't affect the gene splicing?" he said sharply. "What you just attempted was extremely dangerous – you practically cut her subconscious in half and she may never be able to may never put back together on her own, even through time. You can only destroy on in the process. What if that was her?"

"Trust me, doctor. The girl – now formally known as Experiment 1: Gene Splicing – will be fully prepared after a day's rest and food. After that she will be more than ready for the gene splicing."

Doctor Redmand surveyed Jeb before nodding his head. "Fine. Tell Sub 423 to get the operation ready. If this fails, I'll put their jobs on the line."

* * *

Angel POV

"Max?"

"Yea, honey?"

"It worked." I couldn't help but let a few tears escape. All the pain and suffering and anger and hurt were really getting to me. "She's gonna have gene splicing tomorrow."

Max looked at the door, her eyes unreadable. But I could hear her thoughts.

_Poor girl. I hope she survives, for her own sake._

"Max?"

"Yes, Nudge?"

Nudge pointed towards Fexix. "He isn't looking too good."

Fexix POV

They took away Alyss before me.

I remember her screaming and kicking with all her might, but still not enough to throw off her captors. She looked so scared and angry at the same time, her face contorted in a grimace.

She still hadn't returned.

I felt weak beyond relief, and pain etched into every move I made. They had done the exact same thing to me today as they had done yesterday, and I was beginning to seriously think of suicide.

Anything was better than this. Anything.

I caught a conversation between Max and her flock. Nudge was talking, as usual.

"…so many things." She said fiercely. "When we get out of here, Max, we have to go on a shopping trip, please? I mean, we haven't got enough clothes as it is, and we need more, and – oh! Can we stay at a hotel, please? Oh golly gosh please please please please–"

I shot a grateful at Iggy, who removed his hand from her mouth.

"Right." Max said. She looked around her flock, her eyes narrowed. "Here's what we're gonna do. Angel, next time we get fed, make the guard unlock our cages. We havn't seen flyboys or erasers since a few days ago, so I don't think we'll see them soon. Then we'll get the hell outta here."

"What about Alyss?" Angel cried. "We can't leave her!"

Max looked doubtful. "Angel, honey…" she closed her eyes, looking for the entire world like a weary mother.

"If we get a chance to go, we're going." Max said, making a stab at sounding firm. "Not stopping for people we barely know."

"But she's like _us_." Nudge protested. She looked horrified.

"If it was one of us, Max, would you leave us?" Gazzy demanded.

Iggy said nothing.

"Don't leave her behind, Max." Fang said quietly. "Don't end her life like this. _Anything_ but this."

Max looked shocked. For a moment or two she stared into space, thinking it through, before she released her pent up breath in a noisy exhale.

"Fine." She said sharply. "When we go, we take whoever we can with us. Angel, when Alyss gets back, we go. You hijack some scientist's mind and then we go! Got it?"

Everyone nodded uneasily. Max huffed and sighed in her cage. Nudge continued to stare at the other experiments, her eyes wide. Angel and Gazzy went to sleep, and Iggy dozed, his eyes closed but his breathing too irregular to pass for sleep.

Fang started to confer quietly with Max, and Fexix stared as Fang reached through the bars and stroked Max's face in on quick move.

"We'll be ok." He told her roughly. Then he withdrew his hand, his cheeks slightly pink, before staring aimlessly at the ceiling. Fexix smiled as Max stared at the back of Fang' head, her face flushed and her eyes wide and hopeful.

He closed his eyes.

At least there was love somewhere in the world.

* * *

**Again - thank you for reviewing!**

**xx**


	8. Chapter 10

**I apologize for this short chapter - but 11 will be up soon-ish**

**Some stuff going on at the moment that limits my ability to write**

**Anyway...Enjoy xx**

Max POV

Three days.

Three stinking days I've crouched in this cage, my stomach growling and my eyes drooping with tiredness I never seem to catch up on. Three days since they took Alyss away to be brutally modified, tortured and eventually killed.

Three days since Fang touched my cheek with his hand, and told me I'd be ok. I don't know why I was counting the days since he did so – it was something my mind always flitted to, strangely wanting him to do again. But no, he'd remained silent for the most part, glaring at the guards who gave us food, always making sure it wasn't drugged before eating it.

For the rest of my flock, they were doing well considering the whole trapped-in-a-cage-by-crazy-scientists situation. Angel would play I Spy with Gazzy, who would always lose, but with amazing determination, would play her again. I knew he was only doing it to keep her occupied, and I smiled at his love for his younger sister.

Iggy would turn his cage into a bomb making operation; although he couldn't see I swear he could see better than any of us. He'd made five bombs so far. I didn't want to ask how he got the materials or where he was stashing them.

And Nudge was being…Nudge. To fill the silence she'd talk and talk and talk and talk and talk and…

You get the picture.

I've a funny feeling she doesn't like the quiet.

Oh, and I almost forgot – the new guy, the one who's been here for years – Fexix. He's always quiet, never usually talks, kinda like Fang. But when Fang is silent he is like a stone, unmoving and unreadable.

Fexix just radiates weariness and anger and sadness all rolled up into one, like he's seen too much of life already and doesn't care to see more.

Even when we're talking about escaping he just stares into the distance, like his eyes see something beyond human eyes, like there's some sort of paradise there.

I've come to the conclusion that he's lost his mind. I mean, come on. Stayed at this hellhole for 5 years? That's more than enough to make _anyone_ crazy.

I've got evidence of that, too. When everyone was asleep, even Fang, and I was keeping watch and trying not to look too closely at the other experiments, he turned to me, his eyes bright.

"You'll get out alright."

I looked at him, my eyebrows raised. "What?"

He gestured to me. "I said, you'll be all right. You'll get out."

I snorted. "What, got the key to this cage in your pocket?"

He shook his head, his hair flying. "No. I just think _you'll_ _get out all right."_

And then he fell silent, his eyes closing as if he was mediating.

It was only after he'd fallen asleep I'd noticed he hadn't included himself in his theory.

Alyss's POV

My whole body was aching; my head hurt and my back kept twigging with spasms of pain. The cold, hard surface I was lying on didn't help me get to sleep; nor did the sound of the beeping machine nearby. Only the doses of sedatives and morphine lulled me to sleep long enough to catch up on what I'd missed.

I've been here three days.

I felt these…things…growing on my back; I haven't looked, I don't _want_ to look. My hearing has been growing sharper as well as my eyesight, and I feel stronger. My clothes don't even properly fit me anymore, they're too small.

And yet I'm still in pain, still waiting for _it_ to come back.

The Voice. My other half. My counsoler, therapist, friend. Even though I know, somehow, that it's gone forever, I still have this vain hope, this constant pray, that it'll return and preserve my sanity.

I heard two scientists walk past, their voices growing louder then fainter.

"…them tomorrow?"

"Yes. Doctor Redmand can't wait to dissect Subject Eleven's brain. He feels she holds valuable content."

"Good. That's the biggest nuisance retired…"

I froze, my mouth dropping open.

They were gonna retire the flock.

_Tomorrow_.

Clenching my eyes shut, I sent out the loudest mental call I could manage.

Angel's POV

Angel was dreaming.

She was in a lovely forest, where rabbits and deer and birds came to her, nudging her softly and looking at her with adoring eyes.

She laughed and ran onwards, looking for a clearing big enough for her to take off in.

The perfect clearing came, and she spread her snowy white wings and leapt into the air, soaring above the green forest. She flew into the blue sky, her worries forgotten and her happiness sending a red glow on her cheeks.

And then she heard someone calling her.

_Angel_.

She looked around, her wing flaps faltering.

_Angel_.

She looked all around her, panic beginning to seize her. "What? Who's this? Where are you?"

_Angel!_

"Max!" Angel cried, pounding her own head. "Wake me up!"

_ANGEL!_

Angel screamed and snapped her eyes open, her heart pounding and five pairs of worried eyes staring at her. She clutched her chest, gasping.

"Who was calling me?" she demanded. "Who?"

"No one was calling you, honey." Max said gently. She exchanged a quick look with Fang. "Everyone was sleeping."

Angel sighed and put her head in her hands, wanting to sleep and dream again.

_Angel!_

Angel shot up, her eyes wide. "Alyss?" she said out loud. Max opened her mouth to speak, but Angel held up one hand, motioning her to be quiet. Angel hesitantly sent out a thought.

_Alyss?_

_Angel! Thank god I reached you; I thought you'd never answer!_

_What? Where are you? What have they done to you? Why-_

_There's no time, Angel! Get everyone out, somehow, do something, anything! They're planning on expiring you...tomorrow!_

Angel slapped her hand over her mouth to stop herself gasping. After a few moments she regained enough calm to send another thought_. Where are you?_

_In the Ornithology Lab. But don't worry about me! Get yourselves out!_

_We're not leaving you! Hang on!_

_NO! Angel, wai-_

Angel cut off her thoughts and turned to Max.

"We need to get out _now_!" she cried. "Alyss just told me they're gonna expire us tomorrow!"

Max suddenly turned from a weary looking teenager into the flock leader. "Angel, when anyone who isn't a robot comes in, make them unlock our cages. Gazzy, Iggy, bombs at the ready. Fang, when you're released and everyone else is too, knock out the guard. Nudge? You stay with me."

Max turned to Fexix, who was watching the proceedings with interest. "I'm giving you a chance, right now, to escape." She told him coldly.

"This is because you're probably the only one apart from Alyss who could survive the next week. You can come with us if you want, but if you do, you're in it for the long haul till we decide what we're gonna do with you. Got it?"

Angel knew that Max wanted to drop the hardcore act and just ask him to come with them, but knew she had her role as the flock leader to uphold. So she smiled at Fexix as he glanced with an unsure expression at her, nodding her head.

"Sure. I'll come."

His pale face held a glimmer of hope that Angel had never seen before. "I know a way out." He said, excitement beginning to show in his voice. "I can show you the way out."

"Then you lead us once we're out, then." Max decided.

Angel listened hard for Alyss's thoughts, but only hit a brick wall. Darn. She was asleep.

Closing her eyes, Angel began to save her inner strength, trying hard not to fall asleep as her eyelids closed.

**I know it's not my best, and I apologize**

**xx**


	9. Chapter 11

**Thanks to all who have reviewed so far**

**Enjoy xx**

Max POV

The little hands on my watch ticked. I scanned the other cages. Everyone was ready.

Even Gazzy was stretching his muscles, ready to run. I started stretching my own, a ball of nervousness settling in my stomach. I closed my eyes and ran over the plan in my mind.

We would fight for our freedom, rescue Alyss and then escape. We would be free at last.

"Max?"

I turned to see Fexix staring at me. He looked in a state. He looked scared and nervous. It wasn't like him, so I spared him a moment's thought.

"What?"

I heard the door open. "They're coming!" I hissed. "Everyone – to your stations! Get ready!"

"Max, I need to talk to you!" Fexix hissed.

"Not now." I panicked. "Shut up and get ready!"

I slumped against my cage and closed my eyes, opening them a tiny bit to see a guard with our food tray. Everyone seemed to be asleep, and he seemed relieved. Last time we shouted so much abuse at him he wet his pants.

Scardy cat.

I heard Angel shuffle around in her cage, and then exclaim in surprise, "Hey, food!"

I opened my eyes a bit more. The guard was looking at Angel suspiciously, picking up her bowl of gruel and walking towards her.

"Mr Guard? I think you look very nice today. Do I look nice today?"

The guard, being a poor sap with a gentle heart, looked straight at Angel and opened his mouth.

_Gotcha. _

And then his mouth fell slack, his eyes glazed over, and he stood completely still, the food bowl still in his hand.

"Put the food bowl down." Angel commanded. Her voice was deeper and, I have to admit, pretty scary. "Now unlock my cage."

The guard nodded and took out a pair of keys, unlocking her cage. Angel skipped out before grabbing the keys, saying sharply, "Sit."

He sat, and Angel started to unlock our cages feverishly, her breathing quick. When she got to my cage I leapt out, savouring the brief moment of freedom before doing a 360.

The others, including Fexix, were standing a little way off, looking at me expectantly. With a sickening crunch Fang knocked the guard out, his face contorted in anger for a moment.

"Sorting out some issues, are we?" I asked him politely. He rolled his eyes.

"Yea. Sure."

And then we were racing for the door, ignoring the experiments who called out to us. Fexix staggered along, his breathing shallow, and I felt pity for him before I replaced it with determination. I couldn't afford to feel.

A new voice shot down my thoughts. "_What_?"

I looked up to see a guard lunge for the Emergency button. I snarled and threw myself through the air, making him freeze in horror.

And then he stood aside, his eyes wide. "Don't hurt me!" he screamed.

I snorted.

"Tough." I snapped, before punching his lights out. Literally.

We burst through the door marked _Storage_ into the wide chamber with the different doors leading to different labs. I ran to the door marked Ornithology, a flashback concealing my eyesight for a few seconds…

_Me, strapped down, never been outside, I only know pain, fear, and anger towards the white coats who dare keep me captured, me wanting to hurt them as much as they hurt me…_

I shook my head and slowed down, motioning the others to slow. I crept to the door and opened it slightly, looking around.

It was a white hall that smelled strongly of anaesthetic. I gagged before leading my flock through, the different doorways leading to different branches of Ornithology. Angel gasped and halted, and we followed her lead in time to see a scientists walk through the door and right into us.

Angel took over instantly. "Where's Alyss?" she commanded.

"Last door on your right." He replied, his eyes glazed and his voice a low monotone.

And then I pulled back my arm and punched him hard in the face. He let out a soft yell before crumpling.

Then Fang was there, lifting up his leg.

There was a snap as he brought his foot on the base of the scientist's spine, killing him instantly. I stared at Fang, my mouth open.

He met my gaze unflinchingly. "He didn't deserve to live."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Fexix wobble, like he was out of balance, before he regained his posture, staring at the dead man on the floor.

I started to run again, sending a thought of thanks to Angel. It was a miracle the warning bell hadn't started ringing. I ignored the cries from some of the labs, my teeth gritting.

We approached the door, with me in the lead and Fexix hobbling at the back. I restrained the urge to jump in and yell, _"Boo!"_ but 1) That wouldn't be appropriate at this moment and time and 2) it wouldn't be very flock leader-ish of me. So I pressed my lips together and walked calmly in.

Alyss was lying on a table surrounded by tubes and machines; she had needles stuck into her and a breathing mask was on her face. Her skin was an unearthly pale colour, and looked clammy. What fascinated me most was the fact that she had wings. They were brown that gradually faded to white, and on the very tips of her feathers I saw black spots. I mean, what took us ten years to develop she took three days.

I slapped myself.

"No." I snapped. "You're thinking like a white coat." I looked over to Iggy. "Can you get the tubes off of her?"

Iggy went to Alyss and felt with his sensitive fingers, pulling out needles every now and then while muttering under his breath. As Alyss emerged slowly from the mass of scientific machinery she began to get restless, her breathing quickening.

"If we pull out this tube…" Iggy felt a particular tube that was going into her back, between her wings. "It'll stop the bird genes going into her. Her body is still changing, still modifying itself. If we pull it out, I don't know how her body will cope."

I stared in disbelief. No way. No flocking way. We got this far to save her, but if we stop them pumping chemicals into her body she dies?

"We've no choice, Max." Fang was next to me, and I hadn't even heard him walk over. "It's take her with us to probably save her life, or leave her here – for certain death."

I didn't want to ask where he had gotten all these morbid sentences. It was the longest sentence I've ever heard him say. And yet it didn't want to hear it.

"Do it, Ig. As quick as you can."

Well.

That sentence changed as I heard an insane ringing peal out through the alarms.

Fang POV

"Never mind, just do it now!" Max hissed.

I watched Iggy as he pulled sharply at this tube. Blood spurted upwards towards his face, and I winced slightly as he began to pull other needles out in a similar vein.

I turned to see Erasers crowd by the doorway, and hissed as I leapt forward, Max instantly by my side.

We fought together, our moves as one, our fighting skill synchronised. I grabbed one and twisted his arm around his back, popping it out of his socket, and before he could scream I grabbed his head and twisted. Hard.

He fell to the floor dead, and I saw Max do a 360 of our flock.

I dealt with two of them as I heard her shouting, "Fexix! Show us the way out!"

Iggy appeared with a limp Alyss in his hands, his face pale. "She's lost a lot of blood." He gasped out. "We gotta get outta her."

"Fang, cover Iggy! Fexix, lead with me. Nudge, look after Angel and Gazzy. Let's GO!" Max screamed and Fexix took off, with us all in hot pursuit.

We were tearing down a long, white hall, when erasers and flyboys started running after us. Gunshots cracked through the air, and I pushed Iggy aside to see a bullet whizz where his head had been a few moments ago.

Suddenly I saw an exit door, and yelled out, "Exit 2 o'clock!"

We all veered to run along this new course, and with one single kick Max brought the door down.

I stared at her lithe body, her flying blond hair, and her eyes sparkling with total determination…

"Fang!" Iggy dragged me through the door. "Quite staring and let's go!"

I didn't ask about how he knew that.

Iggy threw a bomb backwards and I followed its course, sniggering as erasers and flyboys alike were thrown backwards, their faces surprised and blank with shock.

And then that's when I heard the snarling.

The sun was setting, and we were running across open, muddy ground. In the distance I saw a high electric fence. The erasers and flyboys fell back, going into the building and slamming the door shut. With my super hearing I heard them lock it.

Yep. _Lock_ it.

Fexix, who looked as pale as death, stumbled, his eyes wide with comprehending horror.

"Scavengers." He managed to gasp out.

And then the lights around the Institute flicked on, and these things began to come from the drains.

Iggy's POV

Alyss was light in my arms, and I held her closer, feeling the texture of her wings through the thin shirt she was wearing. I heard these irregular heartbeats coming from what sounded like a cave – they didn't sound human. And then a sudden snarling erupted from behind us, and Max screamed loudly, "A and U! Straight up!"

Angel's POV

Their thoughts weren't human. Their minds were too morbid, too horrifying; my body started to shake with the effort of reading their minds. As I lunged into the air and spread my white wings, I pulled away from their thoughts.

Blood. Ripping. Tearing. Death.

That was all I heard.

Max's POV

"A and U! Straight up!" I screamed. I jumped into the air, flapping my wings hard, and the flock positioned themselves around me. I looked down at the ground at the things coming towards us.

Their bodies were distorted; mutations of sorts, animal skin, fur, fangs, teeth, horrible skin fungus. Their eyes were black, and I saw one with no eyes at all, the empty sockets staring at me. They ran like dogs, barking, growling, slavering, snapping – and they weren't human. They howled and ran for us, and we shot into the air.

That was when I realized Fexix was still on the ground.

"Fexix!" I yelled, and tucked in my wings, dropping to the ground. I tugged his, arm, but he remained on the ground. "Let's go!"

"I can't fly, Max." he said, a small smile on his face. But it was full of bitterness, and sorrow.

"MAX!" Fang screamed, and I heard his frantic wing beats beating furiously towards me.

"_Go_, Max!" Fexix yelled, pushing me away. "I wasn't gonna go with you, anyway."

I stared in horror at his face just as Fang's arms wrapped themselves round my waist, and I was jerked upwards. I was watching Fexix's face as he turned to the oncoming Scavengers. I heard Fang shout for the kids to look away, and I heard them fly off as quickly as they could. Still carrying me, Fang followed them quickly.

But not quickly enough.

The Scavengers hurled themselves at Fexix, the bloodlust on their faces clear. In seconds he was gone from sight, the Scavengers swarming over him like flies over a decaying body. I heard one, agonizing scream before blood was flying everywhere, and there was a constant sound of teeth scraping against metal.

And then Fang turned my head into his chest and soared into the sky, away from the Institute and away from the baying Scavengers.

**

* * *

Please review and tell me what you think xx**


	10. Chapter 12

**To Those who didn't like to see Fexix die, I have a qoute for you.**

**"Not All Things Are What They Seem"**

**I apologize for this shortness, but this will make sense in later chapters **

**Enjoy xx**

* * *

3rd Person POV

Doctor Redmand nudged the mangled body of Fexix, formally known as Failed Subject 2.0, with his toe.

He spat at it, his eyes cold and unfeeling.

"I wasted five valuable years on you bastard." He snapped at the body. "Burn in hell. And that goes for your friend Maximum Ride too."

Something changed in the air. The darkness drew close, the other sounds fell silent, until Doctor Redmand only heard his own breathing…and someone else's.

Incredulous, he took a step toward and knelt gingerly, bending his ear close to Failed Subject 2.0's mouth.

A mangled fist connected with his nose, and Doctor Redmand stumbled back, flailing his arms and screaming. The corpse on the ground heaved, and a strangled voice whispered from the bloody mass…

"_That was for Max."_

And then it fell silent.

Doctor Redmand stared at the slowly dying Subject.

And then, ignoring the pulp and bone that was his broken nose, he began to laugh nasally, a mad, intense light glowing in his eyes.

* * *

**The next chapter will be relatively soon xx**


	11. Chapter 13

**

* * *

**

To clear up some confusion...

**No, the Scavangers are NOT Erasers. **

**They are experiments that have been tested and experimented on for so long that they've been twisted from human to animals; they have regressed to a savage, primal state.**

**Hope that helps a few people.**

**Enjoy xx**

* * *

Iggy's POV

I followed the sound of Gazzy's wing flaps, my hand running over Alyss's back. Her breathing was labored and her body was frail and weak. The hole in her back dribbled slowly with blood, and even I, the blind kid, could tell she needed help.

"Max?" I called out. She didn't answer, and I called louder, "Max?"

"She's just in shock." Fang's voice told me. "What is it?"

"She's bad." I told them flatly. "We need a place to rest and get medical attention to her now. She's gonna die if we don't do this within half an hour."

I heard Fang's quiet voice above the roaring wind. "Everyone, let's head to London. We need to find a hospital…"

"No." Angel's voice was suddenly shrieking above the wind. "There's been a big accident, a fire. We can't go to any of the hospitals, they're full."

Fang swore before falling silent. Then Max took over, her voice wavering for a few seconds before she had in under control.

"Right; we're gonna find a hotel and try and patch her up there. We've no other alternative. Everyone, speed up!"

I gripped Alyss tighter and beat my wings harder, praying we'd help her in time.

Nudge's POV

Omg! I swear I've never seen Iggy look so worried! I mean, Fang is worrying over Max, who keeps claiming she's fine, and Gazzy is comforting Angel, who is distraught by all the agonized thoughts she's getting. And I'm in the middle trying to figure out which one to worry over!

When we were at the Institute, I was so scared. I mean, I really liked Alyss – she showed some gut when that Doctor Redmand person was talking to her. I was quaking in my boots!

Well, my shoes, 'cos I don't have boots, but if I did – have boots, I mean – they'd be from New Look. C'mon, who doesn't like boots from there?

I looked down, and my sharp eyes caught sight of something.

"Hotel at 11 o'clock!"

* * *

Angel's POV

We checked into a four star hotel, with Iggy and Gazzy flying around to the window. The minute we locked ourselves into the 3 adjourning bedrooms Iggy laid Alyss on the bed, taking over.

"Gazzy, dig out our bandages. Fang, get me some water. Max, help me get her clothes off."

"Iggy!" Max snapped.

Iggy looked at her, his face and thoughts serious. "So I can get to her wounds. In case you haven't noticed Max, I'm blind."

"Good point." Max said quickly. "Nudge, come over here. Angel, make Fang and Gazzy face the wall after their jobs."

They squawked of course, but after Iggy got the medical kit out along with bandages and water, he began to deal with Alyss's wounds quickly with Max and Nudge's help. I made Fang and Gazzy sit on chairs facing the walls, and I kept them there, trying hard not to listen to the worried thoughts behind me.

Iggy was whispering quietly to Max, and they turned Alyss around to see her back. I looked at it, my eyes narrowing.

And then turned back around as quick as possible with a squeak. I clenched my eyes shut, hoping to banish that…that _image_…from my mind.

It was like a bloody, gaping hole was between Alyss's wings, and it was so deep her rib cage was sticking through the bloody flesh. I wondered how she was alive, but then remembered the bird genes. I listened to Iggy's thoughts – I couldn't bear turning and walking over to them.

"…_isn't dead yet." _Iggy was telling Max. In his mind I saw Max's horrified face.

"_So she's had more avian DNA then any of us has?"_ she demanded in a whisper.

"_Basically, yea."_ Iggy nodded.

_Ew_. Nudge was disgusted.

I felt exhaustion suddenly wash over me, and I sat on the floor. "Max?" I called out. She was beside me in a second. "I'm going to sleep." I announced.

Max picked me up carefully and went to the third bedroom, calling Gazzy to come along. She laid me on the bed and took off my shoes and jacket, smoothing my hair away from my forehead and tucking the covers around me.

"You go to sleep, honey." She said softly. I smiled and closed my eyes. I heard her tuck Gazzy in, despite his protests, and before she went out she gently kissed my cheek.

_Goodnight, my Angel._

I smiled, drifting off to a dreamless sleep.

Max's POV

Nudge was falling asleep on her feet, so I sent her to the second bedroom, so she could get some rest. Gazzy and Angel were in the furthest one away, the third bedroom, and if I listened hard I could hear their light breathing.

Iggy was still working on Alyss. It was a miracle she was still unconscious, so she wasn't in pain.

No. What _is_ a miracle is that she's alive. I doubt that even Fang could have survived that kind of wound. It must be all the modifications her body is going through.

Hurray for bird genes!

Speaking of Fang…

I glanced at him. He was sitting on a chair that faced the TV, watching the news aimlessly. I stared at his face. He had a smudge of dirt on the side of his face, and I had this strange, sudden urge to go wipe it off for him. I looked back to the bed, my face flushed.

Why am I so hyper aware of Fang? Every time he scratched his chin or lifted the remote to change the channel, I instantly looked over to see the cause of his movement.

I felt irritated and confused. I had no idea what I felt when I looked over at him. It was like butterflies doing a jig in my stomach.

"Max? You okay? Your breathing has picked up." Iggy commented. He finally finished with Alyss, rolling her on her side. Her face was troubled, and every now and then her body would twitch and convulse.

"I'm fine. How is Alyss?" I asked quickly.

Iggy went over to the bathroom, and after washing his hands he came back and sat on an empty bed.

"Truthfully? I don't know, Max. Her DNA is still being modified as far as I can tell and I don't know if she's gonna make it. She's lost so much blood it's unbelievable…"

"But is she okay _now_?" I pressed.

He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "She's stable."

I sighed as well and let a small smile form on my face. "Go to sleep, Ig. Fang and I will watch tonight."

"Wake me up for third watch." He said adamantly. I rolled my eyes.

"Of course. Now go to sleep, you pyro."

"Gladly." He rolled over and fell asleep instantly, the stiffness leaving his drawn shoulders.

I walked over to Fang, tapping his shoulder. "You wanna take first watch?"

"Sure." He switched off the TV and stood so that we were inches apart. "I'll wake you and Ig if anything changes with Alyss."

I was so caught up in how suddenly _close_ he was I almost forgot to answer. I shook my head to clear it, taking a step back. "That'll be great." I managed to say.

Fang looked at me. "You okay?"

I turned away from his searching dark eyes. "I'm fine."

I walked over to the spare bed and lay down on it, paranoia making me leave my shoes on. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, hoping Alyss would be okay.

Fang POV

I didn't wake Max for her shift. I took it instead, waking Iggy for the third watch. Alyss staying as still as death, but occasionally she would twitch or convulse, and I felt sympathy for the dark nightmares she must be having. I fell asleep quickly, and was woken up by a very angry Max the next morning.

"Why didn't you wake me for my shift? In fact, for _any_ shift?"

I caught my breath.

Max was leaning over me, her eyes blazing in anger and her blonde hair falling like a curtain over the side of her face.

And she was the prettiest thing I've ever seen upon waking up.

I shook myself out of my daydream when I heard Angel giggle. _Angel, get out of my head!_

_Sure thing, Fangeo. _She giggled once more before leaving my mind, and as I stood up she skipped into the room.

"Morning all!" she sang.

Iggy was still sound asleep. I realized he must have taken two shifts, and felt guilty.

Max stomped off to have a shower, pushing Angel in the direction of the second room shower. I heard the third room shower door slam, and guessed it was Gazzy. The next minute I heard Brittany Spears voice singing _Toxic_. Yep. Gazzy's in the shower.

Then Nudge wandered in, her eyes wide. She knocked on the bathroom door where Max was in, and when Max opened it in a towel my jaw dropped.

She let Nudge inside, and after five minutes Nudge was pushed out, her face red. I caught the sight of Max's motherly face before she closed the door and the shower began running.

I walked over to Alyss and checked her over. She seemed to be okay, but her bandages needed changing.

"Nudge?" I called. She came running, and together we changed the soiled bandages into cleaner ones. When we had finished Angel came out, her hair wet from the shower, and then Gazzy trooped in, dancing around singing in Justin Timberlake's voice. I sighed.

And then Max walked back into the room.

Her freshly washed hair smelt gorgeous, and her face was glowing, finally clean of the layer of dirt she'd collected. She wore a close fitting tank top along with jeans, and she was barefoot.

I turned away and breathed deeply, walking over to Iggy in the pretence of waking him up.

In the end I left him alone, and as Nudge disappeared into the second bathroom I did the same. Max was just ordering room service as I closed the door, determined to enjoy my shower.

God, it was heavenly. The feel of water running past my wings, soothing my face and wiping away the dirt…

For those who have a shower every day, I envy you. Try a proper shower once a week, tops. Maybe every two weeks. Normally we wash in cold streams. But today…

I sighed and turned the shower off, drying myself off and climbing into my dirty clothes. A thought occurred to me, and as I opened the bathroom door I called out to Max.

"Hey, Max?"

"Yea?"

I walked into the second bedroom where Max was gently combing through Nudge's hair, twisting it into pig tails.

"We need new clothes." I said tonelessly. "My t-shirt's filthy."

"And my shoes have holes in them." Nudge added.

"My underwear is nonexistent." Gazzy called from the third bedroom.

"Gazzy!" Max laughed.

"Max!" Gazzy called back in Max's voice.

"Iggy!" Nudge squealed.

"Angel!" Iggy yelled. Apparently, he was up.

"Nudge!" Angel cried.

I opened my mouth to say some sarcastic remark before a knock on the door came, and a voice cried "Room service!"

The kids ran to the door, and as Max passed me she looked at me and grinned. "Nice one."

And to my utter mortification and disbelief, I blushed.


	12. Chapter 14

**I'm loving the reviews i'm getting.**

**I LOVE THEM!**

**Keep 'em coming and i'll keep my story coming :D**

**Enjoy xx**

* * *

Nudge's POV

After our breakfast – and let me tell ya, there was a _lot_ of it – Max started to talk, but she looked fidgety, like she didn't like what she was gonna say.

"As you can see, our clothes are disintegrating…and yes, even Gazzy's _underwear_ is becoming nonexistent…"

Angel and I giggled at a proud looked Gazzy. Max sighed and raised her eyes heavenward. I frowned. Why was that important? Our clothes are always needed replaced; it wasn't like it was something new…

I stiffened as that word went round my head.

_New_.

I started to feel excited, but pushed it down. Maybe it was all an odd coincidence that our clothes were wearing down and nearby there was the London shopping centre…

"Max…" I asked cautiously. "Are we going sho…sho…shopping?"

My voice rose in several octaves as I said the last word. I was shaking with the effort to try and not talk.

Talking is second nature to me. I love to talk and see the words flow out after one another; phrases and sentences all going together from my mouth.

Max massaged her temples, her brow furrowed. After a few agonizing minutes of waiting, she spoke.

"Yes."

I screamed and hit the roof.

Gazzy's POV

Nudge literally hit the roof she was that excited. After giggling at her with Angel Max called for order, and then we left. The only problem was that Iggy was forced to stay with Alyss incase she woke up, but he didn't mind.

"I hate shopping." He sighed. When everyone was getting ready to go out he whispered in my ear, "Dude. We need more metal."

"I know." I whispered back. "How can I get away from Max, though?"

"You'll think of something." Iggy said confidently.

I felt pride swell in my chest. Iggy was thinking I was a grown up! I felt excitement threaten to split my cheeks, I was grinning so hard.

Then Max's voice wiped the smile clean off my face.

"Guys? I _know_ you're planning something!"

"Be careful, she's on to you." Iggy said seriously.

I saluted him before realizing what I'd done. "I just saluted you, Iggy."

He grinned, and I grinned back.

Max POV

When we walked into the high street and then into the shopping centre, I was on full alert. My eyes were darting, my body was tensed, my breathing was quick and my fists clenched.

Like just before a fight.

_Relax, Max, we're just going shopping. _Angel giggled in my mind. _And Nudge asks if we can do her shopping first…whatever that means._

I looked over at Nudge, who eyed me hopefully. I nodded at her before turning to the rest of the group.

"Ok, here's what's gonna happen. I'll take Nudge and Angel, Fang you take Gazzy. You find clothes for Iggy too. I'll give you £300 to spend. That's £100 for each of you. Got it?

They nodded. After finding an ATM I inserted the Max Ride card into it. It gladly spat out the money, and after waving goodbye to the boys I turned to Nudge, who flushed slightly.

I felt my heart constrict, and this strange feeling come over me. I felt like Nudge was growing up too fast, but that's ridiculous. My mind flashed back to this morning…

"_Max?"_

_Nudge's voice came through the bathroom door. I cursed and opened it in my towel, and she darted in. As I closed the door I caught Fang staring at me, his mouth wide open. I managed to shut the door without blushing before turning to Nudge, who was sitting on the toilet seat._

"_What's wrong, Nudge?" I asked._

_My sister like flock member swallowed hard, swinging her legs in agitation. "Um…Max…I think I…I think I need…a…a…"_

_I stared at her, utterly confused and concerned. Nudge _never _had any trouble with words. Now she was stuttering like _I _do when Fang stares at me._

"_Need what, honey?" C__areful to not let the towel drop, I sat on the toilet seat too, putting an arm around her shoulders and squeezing. "What?"_

_She mumbled something, and even with my sharp hearing I couldn't hear it. "What?" I said, putting my ear closer to her mouth._

"_Abra." She said quickly. I stared at her._

"_A…a bra?" I said in disbelief. She flushed and looked down. I did too. And stared in shock._

_My god, she did. Why didn't I notice before? She was about a decent A cup too._

"_Okay sweetie. That's fine. We'll go when the boys aren't with us." I told her cheerfully. "It's ok, it's natural. You're lucky you have me – I had Jeb!"_

_She laughed and smiled brightly at me. "Thank, Max." she told me quietly. "__You know you're better than Jeb ever was."_

_I smiled. "I know."_

I realized the feeling was like a mother looking her at daughter and feeling sad she's growing up. I sighed and pushed it away. I couldn't afford to feel motherly. I couldn't be leader and mother at the same time.

"Right. Angel, Nudge needs a…"

"Bra." Angel smiled. "I know."

"We're heading over to Victoria's Secret, ok? You come with us, try to make people pay less attention to us."

"Okay, Max." Angel skipped happily to take my hand, and with Nudge on my left and Angel on my right, we walked into the dreaded symbol of feminism…Victoria's Secret.

Gazzy's POV

Damn it, I couldn't find any metal. It was for our bombs. Fang was picking clothes for Iggy, and I was standing around, looking around. And I needed to pee.

"Faaaaanng, I need to peeeee." I whined to annoy him. He looked at me, his hair low over his eyes.

"The toilet's over there. Be longer than ten minutes and I'll get Max to come in after you."

I gulped and ran to the toilets, waiting for a fat man to pass before walking in. As I did my business I looked absent mindedly at the metal pipes under the sink, humming tunelessly under my breath.

That's when it hit me.

Metal pipes under the sink.

Five minutes later, I ran out of the bathroom, cackling evilly.

A voice came over the intercom. "Bathroom services to level two. There's a pipe leak."

I grinned and fingered the pipes in my pocket. Oh yea. They had one hell of a leak now.


	13. Chapter 15

Max's POV

It wasn't hard getting a bra. What hindered it was the perky, too happy-go-lucky assistant, who would coo and chatter at me like I was her best friend. I smiled vaguely and pushed Nudge towards the changing room, picking out a few bras for myself as well. On second thought I got a few pairs of underwear as well, and when Nudge came back out holding her purchase I grabbed her new bras out of her hands and paid for them quickly.

No need to stay in this hell hole any longer.

I rushed my charges out and went straight to another shop, buying myself new trainers. Nudge chose purple trainers with wings on them, and Angel got a pair of pink trainers that had _Urban Angel _printed on them.

I grinned mirthlessly.

After shopping for new jeans, tops, jumpers, hoodie's…ect, we sat down at McDonalds and wolfed down four burgers each, leaving eight burgers for the boys. They turned up and ate equally as quickly, and upon asking what they brought Gazzy showed me his new jeans, combat boots, green tops and black hoodie's.

Fang had the same thing, except it was all in black. I rolled my eyes. "Would it kill you to have some colour in your attire?" I asked him.

He looked at me very seriously and said, "Yes."

I was very close to marching him to the nearest store and forcing him to wear a pink t-shirt when Angel suddenly said in my head, _Max, there's a woman walking over to us. She wants to ask us if we want to participate in this hair and make up salon thing. It's for advertising._

Just as Angel finished talking there was a tap at my shoulder. I turned to this very small woman, her hair cropped in a bob but dyed in various shades of red.

I had to admit, it looked pretty cool.

"Hello!" she chirped. "Did you know our salon, Silvershade, is offering free haircuts and makeup sessions?"

I stared at her before running a quick eye over my flock. Angel's hair was straggly and reached her elbows, even in a ponytail. Gazzy and Fang's hair brushed their shoulders, Nudge's hair was frizzy and out of the place, way to long and had split ends everywhere…

"No, but sounds great!" I flashed her a big smile. "Is it possible we could come?"

"Of course!" the woman cried. Her nametag read _Sarah. _"Follow me!"

I motioned behind my back, and my flock followed Sarah up a level until we came to a popular looking place.

It was new, it was flashy…and surprisingly, I liked it.

We were ushered in, and to my dismay I was separated from the others. However my hairstylist was a young and gorgeous looking guy who pounced on my hair like a tiger on meat.

"You have so much hair potential, its amazing…and your _cheekbones_!" he admired my face in the mirror as he worked. "Seriously girl, if you wore make up and if I didn't have a partner, I'd ask you out."

I didn't know what to say to that. He tilted my head back into a sink, and I wondered what colour my hair was gonna be. He noticed my agitation, and smiled reassuringly at me.

"It's ok – I'm just washing your hair before the highlighting and styling."

I nodded. Well, nodded as best as I could with my head tilted back. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Colin." He trilled. "And yours is…?"

"Max." it was out of my mouth before I could stop it, so I went along with it. "And your partners name?"

"Jason."

I stared at him before shaking myself out of my stupor. "He sounds nice. What's he like?"

"Everything a boyfriend should be." Colin said. His eyes grew soft and seemed to look beyond the mirror and to another place. "Kind, loving, gentle, says the right things, funny…"

I closed my eyes. I felt sadness, and to my surprise Fang's face came up in my mind.

He wasn't kind, gentle or loving.

The kind of things a boyfriend _should_ be.

I felt a shake on my shoulder, and I opened my eyes to Colin's worried face. "I'm not boring you, am I?" he asked nervously.

I let out a bark of laughter. "Boring me? Hell no! I like listening to you talk about your boyfriend, he sounds so nice…"

I fell silent. Colin dried my hair in silence, and I didn't meet his eyes. When he was doing something that involved tugging at my hair a lot he bent close to my ear.

"What's his name?"

I stared at the floor, not bothering to hide my sadness. "F…Nick."

"Does he like you?" Colin asked gently. I looked up into the mirror and stared at it, not really seeing my reflection.

"I don't know." I said quietly. "We've kissed three times, and I ran away twice. I mean, I think I like him…I don't know. I mean, when he smiles, the world kinda goes a little faster…"

"You got the butterflies in stomach, dreaming of him, blushing, fumbling, staring at him when you think he's not looking, heart-beating-faster deal?"

I was shocked that Colin could read that much. "Yea."

After a few more minutes of painful hair tugging Colin said simply, "You like him. A _lot_."

"I guess so." I sighed. "But…it's difficult to explain. I mean, we're both leaders of my fl…family, and if we got together and then fought and broke up it would tear the family apart and be awkward."

"But what if it worked out?" Colin pressed. He started taking the tuggy things out of my hair. "You'll never know something unless you take the risks. What were risks made for? To be taken and conquered."

He started cutting my hair expertly, pinning it in places and cutting and straightening in others.

"You see, darling, I didn't want to tell anyone I was gay. Not even to my best friend or parents. After years of seeing girls I didn't like just to put up with the pretence of being straight, I snapped. I went to my best friend and told him."

He smiled as he let my hair fall down. I didn't look into the mirror, but it was lighter and barely brushed my shoulders. He swiveled me round and begin on my face.

"And that night Jason told me he loved me." His eyes became dreamy again. "If I hadn't told him, he would have left town the next day, and I would have never come out. But I took the risk, and you know what I got? Loving boyfriend, good job and a good life. If I hadn't have told him, I wouldn't be here now."

I smiled at him. "I think you're brave."

And I did. When you're fighting Erasers, it isn't bravery – it's self defense. Telling people something that could earn you being shunned in society and maybe never finding someone that loved you back took a great step of courage, a great heart.

"And I think you're finished." He stepped back. "Look at yourself, darling. You put the moon to shame."

The girl in the mirror had faintly blushed cheeks with mascara and eyeliner lining her eyes thickly. But it suited her, just like the honey highlighted air that was layered and just brushed her shoulders. I noticed that her eyes were filled with sadness, and the lines in her forehead were gone, faded away with foundation.

I turned to thank Colin, but he pulled me into a surprising hug, pulling back to smile at me.

"Max. I went through life wondering if I would ever find somebody – but I did, and it made me realize something. For every person in this god forsaken world, there is a soulmate for _everyone_. Even…I don't know, people with wings."

I laughed. He grinned at me. "Tell him." He urged. "You'll feel loads better."

I nodded. "I will."

After one last wave I walked out, seeing my flock standing outside.

Angel's hair was curled and was at her chin in a gorgeous bob. She had blusher on and looked so adorable.

Gazzy's hair was cut close to his head and spiked, withy fiery red tips at the end of each.

Nudge's hair was super straight and layered, but it was its natural colour.

And Fang. I turned to him and caught my breath.

His dark hair was cut and layered, and his messy flop of hair that always annoyed him was curved into a side fringe that reached down past his eyebrow. It suited him. He looked like a hot emo guy I once saw on a TV ad at the hotel.

And then he looked up at me, his eyes dark and searching, his beautiful face looking at me. And then his lips actually curved upwards, his eyes brightened, and the light from his smile dazzled me.

Wait. No. He wasn't a hot emo guy.

He was a beautiful god; so perfect and handsome and piercingly beautiful it made me want to cry.

Colin's words rang in my ears...

_For every person in this god forsaken world, there is a soulmate for _everyone_. Even…I don't know, people with wings._

And at that very moment I realized I had fallen hard for Fang, but with my wings willingly tucked in.


	14. Authors Note: FOR REASON

**AU**

**

* * *

**

**I'm Sorry**

**This is to catch up with thr stupid page thing**

**So it doesnt say like 13. Chapter 15 anymore**

**SO SORRY!!**


	15. AU

**AU**

**

* * *

**

**I'm Sorry**

**This is to catch up with thr stupid page thing**

**So it doesnt say like 13. Chapter 15 anymore**

**SO SORRY!!**


	16. Chapter 16

**I like this chapter. I don't know why...**

* * *

Angel POV

The minute Max and Fang laid eyes on each other after our makeovers, their thoughts went haywire. They were speechless, with Fang thinking, _God, Max looks so beautiful. _

While Max was thinking about how she couldn't deserve Fang, and how she liked him a lot.

Yep. You heard right.

_Max likes Fang!_

_And Fang likes Max!_

I was so excited, but didn't know if I should say anything. I mean c'mon, it'll be fun to tease them a little bit.

I guess I _am_ a pretty freaky six years old.

* * *

Max POV

All the way back to the hotel, I couldn't bear to look at Fang. When I realized I'd…aw, man, it's embarrassing to even _think_…loved him…I didn't know what to do.

Nudge began to pester me for food, Gazzy began to throw his voice to tease this poor couple, and Angel was looking at me with a speculative look in her eye, and Fang…

Was staring at me.

And he kept staring until we reached the hotel, and I practically ran to Iggy to check on Alyss. He was sitting beside her bed, staring into space, when we arrived.

"Hey, Ig." I greeted him. "Any change?"

"She mumbled a few times." He said. "And I changed her bandages once. Other than that she's stayed asleep."

"Cool. You go do something else, I'll watch over her."

I sat beside Alyss and stared at her, ignoring Fang as he stopped to stare at me before going to check his blog. Angel and Nudge started playing with their new hair, and Gazzy and Iggy went to another room and began to plot. I knew exactly what they were doing, but I guess we needed their bombs incase Erasers came.

Alyss looked troubled even in her sleep. She had few laughter lines and her forehead was riddled with lines, showing how much she frowns.

And I thought I frowned I lot.

She had pale bruises up her arms, and scars on her wrists. They looked as if she had somehow cut herself with something very sharp a long time ago.

"Max?"

"Yes, Angel?"

I turned to see Angel looking at me hopefully. "Can we go swimming?"

I scratched my head. "Is there a pool here?"

"Sure is!" Nudge bounded into the room. "And it's empty and the cameras won't work until we get ou-"

Angel slapped her hand over Nudge's mouth. I became immediately suspicious.

"Oh – so in a posh hotel like this, the cameras have conveniently stopped working when we want to go swimming? And no one else seems to want to use the pool at this very minute?" I asked sweetly.

Angel and Nudge just gave me bambi eyes.

"Please, Max?" Angel asked in her cute six year old voice. "Pretty please?"

"C'mon, Max! I haven't been swimming in ages and I love swimming its like flying except your earthbound – on second thought it isn't really like flying but still no one will be there to see our wings and-"

Again, Angel slapped her hand over Nudge's mouth. "Basically, please, Max?"

"I'm not going." Gazzy was horrified. "It'll ruin my hair."

Angel giggled. "The man said it was permanent, Gazzy!"

The Gasman's face lit up in a smile. "Cool! Let's go!"

"Wait!"

I stopped them and called out, "Fang?"

He entered the room, and to avoid looking in his eyes I gathered bathing suits for the youngest members of my flock.

"Take them to the swimming pool, please." I handed them the suits and towels, and made the mistake of looking in his eyes.

It was only for a second, and I looked away immediately, but what I had seen in that split second made my knees weak.

Dark and stirring. That was what I had seen.

And to my shock and embarrassment, I liked the feeling.

I shoed them away, and spent the next few hours wandering around the rooms, checking on Iggy a few times, who had a nap before shutting himself in the bathroom for a shower.

When I eventually checked the clock and found it was 6:15 already, I was about to go searching for my flock when they burst into the door, all chatting animatedly about how fun swimming was.

Instructing them all to shower to get the chlorine off, I was in the second bedroom looking for Angel's clothes when Nudge and Iggy passed each other.

Now, don't get me wrong. Nudge is twelve and Iggy's fourteen, and she's a bit young, but what I saw made me want to jump up and down squealing.

And trust me.

I never do that.

As Nudge passed Iggy, she touched his hand to tell him it was her. Her cheeks flushed as she gazed at his face in the moment they walked past, and she ran into the other room quickly.

Iggy, unaware of me in the room, touched his hand where Nudge had brushed it. His lips turned into a gentle smile, a smile I've never seen Iggy do before, and I stared in wonder and amazement as he actually took a step towards Nudge's room before shaking his head and walking on.

Awww.

Then that moment was all ruined by Gazzy singing suddenly, "Love is in the air…" and Angel giggling in my mind.

_Yes, Max. Love _is_ in the air._

After dinner we watched a movie, but had to stop it on account of the kids getting restless. I was enjoying the movie – it was a chick flick. I know, shock horror, Max actually likes chick flick, dun de DUN dun – but when we stopped it I realized I was in big trouble.

"So, guys." I asked my flock. "Watcha wanna do?"

"Go fish!" Angel yelled.

"Don't have cards." Fang reminded her.

"Scrabble?" I suggested.

"We don't have the game, Max." Nudge said with a grin.

"I Spy?" Iggy put forward.

The flock and I looked at each other before bellowing at Iggy, "_NO_!"

"Sheesh, calm down. It's the only game I can play properly, though." He said grumpily.

And then Nudge shot straight up, looking excited. "No it isn't, Iggy! I know what you could play – truth or dare!"

"What." Fang and I said at the exact same time.

"Yeah!" everyone else liked the idea. And when Angel turned her bambi eyes on Fang, he crumpled like a deck of cards.

"Of course." He said.

I glared at him as the kids cheered, and he gave me a look back as if to say, "What?"

Angel grinned. "Ok. Nudge, truth or dare?"

Nudge saw Angel grinning wickedly at her, and gulped. After a few minutes of deliberation she said, "Dare."

Angel laughed. "Right. Kiss Iggy on the cheek."

Gazzy whooped as the rest of the flock laughed apart from Iggy, who was staring at me, a pink tinge on his cheeks.

"Wha…" was all he said.

Nudge shot her a glare before darting forward, brushing her lips over Iggy's cheek. He flushed, and she sat back down, glaring daggers at Angel.

"Max. Truth or dare?" she asked through gritted teeth.

I smiled hugely. I could take anything.

"Dare."

"Wear that miniskirt I bought you." Nudge grinned.

I stared at her. "What? You didn't get me a miniskirt!"

"Yes I did!" Nudge ran into the other room, and I followed her. She held up a pink tartan miniskirt, smiling sweetly. "Wear it!"

Grumbling, I threw it on with some tights I found in Nudge's bag – no idea where she got them – and sat down in a huff.

"Fang, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Wearing only a towel, run around the block."

He stared at me. "What?"

"Here's a towel." I handed him one, grinning. "Chop chop."

After he did my dare, he glared at me so evilly I gulped.

But it was so worth seeing his abs.

The daring went on, and whenever I got a dare I dared Fang, and he dared me whenever he got a dare. We both dared each other to do the stupidest things, and when we were glaring at each other over a dare including me doing a handstand.

In my miniskirt.

And then Nudge finally snapped.

"Right!" Nudge roared. "You and Fang going to be _locked_ into the bathroom so that you can both _work this out!_ God, we're all sick of you dancing round each other. Admit it. You're in love."

I stared at her before Iggy grabbed my hand in a vice like grip. "Let's go, Max." he grinned evilly.

God, those four avian bird kids are strong. Fang and I were forced, kicking and screaming, into the bathroom, with the door locked behind us. We spent ten minutes trying to batter down the door, but it stayed resolutely locked.

Finally, I sat on the toilet with the seat down, sighing angrily.

"God they're so annoying." I snarled.

"I know." He said with a frown on his face. "I mean, what they were saying…" he suddenly flushed and turned away. "Um…yea."

I felt myself flush. "Uh…yea…"

I stared at the floor, my face red. A few minutes passed in silence before I felt Fang lean against the wall beside me.

"So…what could me we do for revenge?" He snickered.

I thought hard. "Take away Iggy' bombs?"

"Hmm...Not good enough."

"Make Nudge not talk for a week?"

"Nah."

Suddenly, he visibly brightened, and grinned slowly at me. "I got an idea…of sorts."

I frowned. "What?"

He grinned again, making my cheeks flush and my breath catch.

Suddenly, I was off the toilet seat and against the wall, Fang's body close to mine.

"Moan." He hissed in my ear.

"What?" I squawked. I tried to escape, but he wouldn't release me.

"They wanted us to make up – lets make it seem we are very deeply involved in…making up."

I grinned hugely at this idea. "Let's do it."

* * *

Nudge's POV

I walked past the bathroom, a huge grin on my face. They'll thank us later. As I past the door, I heard something that made me stop.

"Ah…oh yes, ahh…" I heard Max moan. There were thuds against a wall, and I heard Fang let out an actual groan.

"Don't stop…oh…come on…just like that, baby…"

I let out a shriek and ran into the other room, shutting the door behind me. "Iggy?"

"Yea?"

"Don't go near the bathroom! Max and Fang are making up…very deeply!"

* * *

Max's POV

Fang and I smothered our giggles as we heard Nudge screaming.

He was still close to me, his arms on either side of my head. We moaned again, trying to scare them.

It must have worked because they all called goodnight and went to bed. We kept on giggling.

I felt adrenaline running through my veins, I felt exhilarated, happy. I looked at Fang. He was laughing too, his face happy.

At once our eyes locked, and our laughter slowed. My breathing quickened. Fang stared at me, his eyes narrowed in thought, before he leaned in, his eyes bright.

The moment our lips touched I felt electricity spark where our lips met, where his hands moved to my waist, where my hands entwined above his neck.

Our lips started to move faster, he moved closer until he was pressed against me, his lean hard body against mine. His tongue swept along my bottom lip, begging for entrance, and I gladly allowed him, opening my mouth eagerly. Our tongues touched hesitantly, and at that first touch my knees went weak beyond relief. We began a dance, our tongue in a deadly tango.

Our hips began to grind against each other, and unbidden a moan rose from my mouth.

His hands were running over my body, along my sides, skimming along my thighs, along my back, between my wings. But those weren't the places I wanted his hands, too deeply involved to think clearly.

I lowered my hands and crept them up his shirt, feeling his abs. Oh dear god, he has a six pack. I dug my nails into his chest, and Fang actually growled, plunging his tongue deeper into my mouth.

I wrapped my legs around his, drawing us closer, feeling his hip bones, abs, ribs. He hesitantly put his hands on my but, and I whimpered, pressing closer. He smirked, and to get him back I put my hands between his wings, rubbing in circles. He gasped in my mouth, and I let out another involuntary moan.

Suddenly, we drew apart, trying to catch our breath. He rested his forehead on mine, breathing hard.

We stared at each others eyes, him pressed close to me with his hands on my ass while my legs were wrapped around his and my hands up his shirt. I don't think I wanted to move, but then Iggy's voice came from right outside the door, "Can you guys come out? I need to pee and all the other bathrooms are full."

We pulled away from each other, trying to sort ourselves out. I tried to fix my hair while Fang fixed his shirt, staring at me.

Iggy called again. "Guys? You done?"

Fang stared at me, his eyes unreadable. "Sure." He said in a normal voice. "We're done."

* * *

**Now I know why :D**

**Review please!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry it's been ages**

**Me sick and all :(**

**But anyway! On with the story...**

**Enjoy xx**

* * *

Fang's POV

As I lay in bed that night, I couldn't stop thinking about that make out session with Max.

Even when I imagined a hag in her place I couldn't stop thinking about the way her lips, so soft and warm, shaped against mine, and the way her hands traced my stomach. The little urgent sounds she made when I touched her backside…dear god, her backside.

_Just say it, Fang. Angel's asleep._

Ok then.

I now knew what Max's ass felt like as well as what it looked like. Call me a sexist pig, but Max can look pretty hot when she wants to.

No. Max looks hot all the time. No, not hot.

Beautiful.

"I've got to stop interrupting myself." I muttered.

Iggy rolled over, half awake. "What?"

"Nothing, Ig. Go back to sleep."

He did so, and I was back to wrestling with my conscience.

I have no idea why I kissed her. She just looked so happy, with her eyes sparkling and her lips looking so tempting and her face so close to mine…

I rolled over and sighed.

I liked Max. A _lot_. But that didn't mean I could force myself on her. I don't even know how she feels. There's a very high chance she likes me back.

But a small bud of hope refused to leave. Then again, there's a small chance she may like me back.

I went to sleep, comforted at that thought.

* * *

Max's POV

I paced beside Alyss's bed, throwing occasional glances at her. She was restless, and kept mumbling. I sat down in a chair and pulled it closer to the bed, taking deep breaths. I stared at her face, biting my lip.

That intimate session with Fang…it replayed in my mind like some romantic scene in a movie. I couldn't stop thinking about it.

Now, Fang and I have kissed three times. The first time he was practically dying and couldn't respond, and the two other times I ran away after he stopped kissing me. I don't know why I am so afraid of his kisses, yet yearn for them to never stop.

Fang is practically my brother. He's my right hand man, my best friend. We know each other better than anyone else in the world. Why couldn't we talk about this?

Colin told me that I loved Fang. And he was pretty sure Fang loved me back.

But did Fang like me at all? What if he was playing with me…considered me another Red Haired Wonder?

I sighed and put my head in my hands.

I liked Fang. Too much. The only question is, did he like me back?

* * *

Fang's POV

In the early hours of the morning, I was woken up by a very worried Max.

"Max?" I said sharply, getting out of bed.

Iggy woke up quickly. "What's wrong?" he asked, pulling on a shirt.

"It's Alyss." Max bit her lip. "She's waking up."

* * *

Alyss's POV

I didn't know if I was dead or alive.

I was floating in darkness with no feelings or thoughts, no urge to move and find out where I was. Faces swam up to me, but faded away before I could get a grasp on them. It was like I was dreaming, but hadn't woken up.

Feeling began to sluggishly enter my conscience, and I dimly made out I was lying on something soft, with my limbs wrapped in something. Every time I tried to get further than that, pain stabbed at my back and my head, and I withdrew into the shadowy darkness, welcoming the numbness.

I started to hear voices…voices I recognized, but couldn't place. I heard a little girl laugh, a boy shout something, and a group of people talking. I yearned to wake up, but every time I tried the pain would stab me. I seemed to be getting closer to the pain though, and gradually away from the numbness. Once I pushed so hard I heard a girl say clearly, "Fang!" but that name held no meaning to me.

Just as I was giving up, succumbing to the darkness, I felt cool fingers touch my wrist. It was then I started to spin, going faster and faster, nearer and nearer to the pain, until finally I broke through, wrenching my eyes to bright light.

And to six very curious pairs of eyes.

* * *

Max's POV

The fist thing Alyss did was stare at as, her eyes wide. I motioned for the others to back off, and they did. I sat on the bed next to her, lifting my chin in a leaderly way.

"Hey, Alyss." I said quietly. "How do you feel?"

She shifted around, pain flashing across her face. "M…m…" she tried to say, but her voice was all raspy.

"Nudge, can you get a glass of water for Alyss." I said, not looking away from Alyss. I heard Nudge run off and then return with some water, handing the glass to me. I held it to Alyss's lips and she drank slowly, and when she had drained the glass I put it down.

"How do you feel?" I asked again.

"M…my back hurts." She managed to say. "And…and my head. Well, my whole body hurts."

I nodded and took her hand. "Okay. Alyss, tell me what you remember before waking up."

She frowned, her face scrunching up in concentration. "The Institute." She whispered. "They…tubes…and needles…scientists…" she shuddered. Her hand pulled away from mine and went to her head. "They took the voice away." She murmured. "Maybe I was crazy after all."

Her eyes flew to me. "What…what did they _do_ to me?" Her hands roamed over her body. "I feel…taller, if that makes sense. My body has changed…I feel different."

I took a deep breath. I sent a thought to Angel. _Angel, does she know what's happened to her?_

_No. _Was the sad reply._ You'll need to tell her._

I sighed and swallowed hard. I didn't want to tell her, but I was the leader. It was my job.

"Alyss…listen to me now, and listen carefully." I said in a quiet, authoritive voice. She looked at me.

"What has happened to you should never have happened, but it did. You have to believe what I'm about to tell you, because it's true."

She nodded uneasily and frowned. I took a deep breath.

"Your DNA has been modified with Avian DNA so that you are roughly 2 percent bird and 98 percent human. You are now what scientists would call an Avian Mutant Hybrid."

Alyss's mouth opened but no words came out.

"You will be taller, stronger, have better eyesight, better hearing…and um…you'll have wings. I think."

Alyss stared at me. Her hand lifted and crept towards her back and her breathing accelerated. I kept my face smooth to stop the pity showing through.

Horror splashed across her face, and she withdrew her hand, her eyes wide and terrified. I went and patted her shoulder, forcing her to look at me.

"You have to believe it, Alyss." I told her. "Please."

She continued to stare, her face shocked. After a few minutes if silence Nudge burst.

"Don't worry, Alyss! We have wings too!"

And then Nudge opened up her wings, grinning from ear to ear.

* * *

Alyss's POV

Ok.

To say I am shocked is a big understatement.

The second I felt the mass of muscle and feathers at my back I knew I wasn't human anymore. In fact, the last thing I remember about the Institute was a scientist leaning over me with a needle, peering at me.

"I hope you've enjoyed being human." Was the last thing I had heard before I had been drugged.

I stared at Nudge's wings. They looked so beautiful yet scary and alien, and in response I felt new muscles tense, unknown muscles which I suspected belonged to my wings.

My _wings_.

The little girl, Angel, came over and hugged me, her big blue eyes understanding.

"Don't worry. We won't leave you."

She had somehow answered that unspoken question I had been worrying about, and I hugged her back, biting the inside of my cheek to stop the tears.

"Thank you."

"You're part of the flock now, isn't she, Max?" Angel said to Max.

Max looked surprised before her face had a leader like expression. "If she wants. But we have to get her up and about before she can make that decision. She has to understand our life, Angel, and that it has consequences if she stays."

I was shocked even more. Something stirred, and I spoke a little harshly.

"I've had a life that's just as worst as yours. You've never been in society, and because you don't want to be in it – so you're excluded. How do you think you'd feel if you were in society…and _still_ not accepted? I had a dad. But he wasn't exactly the loving, caring, trustworthy parent I wanted." I took a deep breath. "I'd love to stay. I really would. But I want to find out who I am first." I swallowed. "_What_ I am."

Fang looked at me. "That's okay."

Max gaped at him, but he ignored her and turned to the rest of the group. "All in favor of helping Alyss get used to having wings and joining the flock, raise your hand."

Everyone raised their hand except Max. She stood, glaring at Fang, before shaking her head slightly. "Right." She said, shooting a look at Fang. "Now that's decided, Fang, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure."

They went into the other room. Angel immediately started chattering to me, while Nudge went and started talking to Iggy, blushing every now and then. Gazzy started watching TV, and I was in the middle of it, trying to make sense of this sudden new life.

* * *

**Toast.**

**Gotta love it.**

**xx**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello faithful readers!**

**I might be putting this on hold until I finish Flying Forever Free, but i'm not sure. I don't want to leave you with a big cliffhanger...**

**Tell me your thoughts!**

**Enjoy xx**

* * *

Max's POV

"Ok, Fang." I said, trying to keep my temper in check. "I know you had to take care of half the flock when we…" I forced myself to say the words. "Split up…but you're back, and while there's a good chance there's a new flock member, let me do the leader thing, okay?"

Fang leaned against the wall, his arms crossed and his eyes dark. "So what you're saying is that you should shoulder the responsibility all by yourself?"

I glared at him. "What? No!"

"Sounds like it." He said coolly, pushing off the wall. "Look, Max. I know that you've been the leader since Jeb left us. And you've been the best – we couldn't ask for more. But I think you need someone else to help you take care of the flock – someone else to shoulder the blame, carry the responsibility."

"But it's _my_ responsibility!" I snapped. My voice rose hysterically high, and to my utter embarrassment it cracked. "Ever since Jeb left it's been _my_ job to take care of you all! I have to–"

"No it hasn't." Fang interrupted me smoothly. His eyes were smoldering. "You don't need to do this alone, Max. I'm here. I'm willing to help."

"I don't need help." I mumbled, staring at the floor. I wanted so badly to throw up my hands and scream, _yes!_ But the flock was my responsibility. I had been the flock leader for most of my life.

Although…what he was saying made sense. After we met each other again I don't think I've ever felt such relief, such joy. And there were times when I've wanted someone else to take over, and let myself to taken care of.

"You need to be taken care of too, Max." Fang whispered.

I looked up and nearly took a step back.

He was right in front of me, his face close to mine, his eyes burning. I opened my mouth to say something, I didn't know, but anything to break the feeling that was sizzling between us, anything to stop this weird feeling, almost like butterflies in my stomach…

"Guys?"

We jerked back. Nudge appeared by the door, her eyes wide. "Oh. Did I interrupt something?"

"No." Fang said smoothly. He walked out the room. "We were just wondering if Alyss can stand yet."

Nudge didn't look convinced, but let him pass. "She's trying to."

I just stared after Fang, biting my lip undecidedly.

* * *

Nudge's POV

Alyss stood unsteadily, her hands out in front of her. I realized very quickly that all she was wearing was bandages, and darted in front of her with a towel.

"C'mon, Alyss – I think you'll want a bath." I said cheerfully. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Max take a step forward before Fang put a hand on her shoulder, whispering something in her ear. She sighed and nodded, but when I helped Alyss into the bathroom she came over.

"I'll help you, Nudge."

I nodded happily. Once we got the bath nice and full and got some towels and clothes ready, we took the bandages off Alyss, eager to see her wings.

Her wings were pale and bulging with muscles; they were the ugliest wings I've ever seen in my life.

"Oh. My. God!" I squeaked. Max shot me a look, and I buttoned up my lips, trying not to talk.

Don't you think that's a weird phrase, buttoned up my lips? I heard it on the radio once when we were in France, it sounds so weird, I mean, who can button up their lips? Unless they put holes in their lip, which is _ew_, 'cos who'd want to do that? You couldn't put on lipstick or lip-gloss on…unless you're a guy. I've seen a guy with lip-gloss on this show I saw on TV when I was little. He was what Jeb called a 'drag queen.'

"Nudge!"

"Oops…sorry Max."

I helped Alyss out of the bath, wincing at the state of the water. It was a sickly red colour, making my stomach churn. I helped Alyss into some clothes before leading her out to the room, where she collapsed on the bed, her hands going to her stomach.

"I'm…er, hungry."

"That's ok." Max said, checking her watch. "We have room service. I'll order breakfast."

When we had all the food in our room, Alyss started eating. And eating. And _eating_. She ate about a quarter of the food we got – and that's a lot. I think it's because her body needs the energy, or something.

When she finished eating she fell asleep, and we left her so she could sleep in peace.

"Now, what do we want to do now? It's not even six yet." Max asked.

"I wanna go shopping again!" I shouted. No one looked to happy at that idea.

"We went shopping yesterday, Nudge." Max reminded me.

"Can we go flying? Please? It's still dark – we'll go just around the block. Please?" Angel begged.

Max looked out the window before smiling. "Sure. Just make sure the doors are locked."

* * *

Alyss's POV

I heard the others leave, and got gingerly off the bed to see Angel swoop over the hotel. I went over to the mirror, glancing at my pale face. I took a few deep breaths as I stretched, feeling the muscles in my wings complain as I did so. They were sore, and as an experiment I let my wings gradually rise.

It hurt like hell, and I was actually gasping as these foreign muscles moved, and two masses of feathers on either side of me rose. They were a dull cream, almost yellow with big muscles, and they were the ugliest things I've ever seen in my life.

They weren't like Angel's beautiful white wings or Fang's glossy black ones. They were ugly – with emphasis on _ugly_.

I felt fear and sadness and anger pulse through me quicker than I expected, and in pure anger I threw my fist at the mirror.

But as I did so something shifted, and I felt like I just did a belly flop. My fist collided with the mirror, and I flinched back, expected the shards to cut me and my hand to hurt.

Nothing happened.

I opened my eyes and gasped.

The shards were frozen in mid air with flecks of red splattered here and there. It was like someone hit pause on a remote during a movie. I looked closer. My knuckles were in the middle of having the skin ripped off them while my blood was in the process of squirting from it. I stumbled back, but the shards didn't move. They stayed where they were in pause mode.

In panic I turned around to look at the window. I ran over and threw myself at it, peering franticly at the street below.

Nothing moved. Everything was still and motionless. I saw this man with his dog, and he was in the middle of bending over and picking up dog refuse.

He didn't move.

I cried and stumbled back, drawing in air as if it was about to disappear. I turned to the mirror and screeched, stamping my foot in raw fear. My stomach belly flopped again.

Pain exploded in my hand as the mirror shards fell, and I heard a car blare its horn as a dog barked.

* * *

Gazzy's POV

I loved flying.

Flying was one of the things that cheered up, made me happy. I know I'll never be normal, but who'd want to be normal when they can fly?

I let out a small whoop and flew next to Angel, my sweet little sister. She read my mind and saw my happiness, and her face lit up in response. She pointed to the front of the flock, where Fang and Max where flying.

Fang was flying above Max, looking down on her with a fiercely protective expression. He never looked away from her. Max was doing the whole 360-leader-lookout thing, but I could tell she knew Fang was looking at her. She'd blush and look down on the quiet alleys we were flying over.

Angel giggled in my mind. _They love each other. _

I pulled a face and pretended to gag. _Love? Ew!_

* * *

Nudge POV

As I flew beside Iggy, I tried so hard not to look at him.

He was silent, his hair fluttering softly, his wings pumping powerfully behind him…

_Damn it!_

I was looking.

I tore my gaze away to look at the sky, and noticed it was getting lighter. I swooped next to Max and pointed toward the sky.

"We gotta get back, Max."

She nodded. "About turn! Head back to the hotel, double time!"

We made it back before most traffic was out. Alyss was awake and staring at her reflection, her eyes wide and disbelieving. There was a hole in the mirror and the shards were on the floor. Her hand was dripping blood and her knuckles were all torn up.

"Hey, Alyss!" I said, frowning. "What happened?"

She stared at me for a few minutes before swallowing hard. She looked frightened and confused.

"What's up, Alyss?" Max asked cautiously.

Alyss swallowed. "I...I think I stopped time."

* * *

**No - I won't be evil and leave you at that**

**Review please!**

**xx**


	19. Chapter 19

**Enjoy xx**

* * *

Max's POV

There was complete silence after Alyss's statement.

The flock stared at her in shock. Even Fang's eyes widened. Which for him is ultra, mega shocked.

"Er…"

Wow. Me, the super word _queen_ who can give an eraser or whitecoat a load of smart aleck remarks without even _thinking_, can't think of anything to say to this.

Luckily, just then the Nudge Channel opened.

"Wow! Omg that's so cool you can stop time and then help us if we're attacked by flyboys but wait why is your hand bleeding, why did you hit the mirror? Where you brushing your hair and then your hand slipped and then you hit it? But it doesn't look like you slipped it looks like you punched the mirr – mffh!"

Everyone sighed in relief and Iggy hand covered Nudge's mouth. "My ears." He moaned.

I snapped back into the flock leader, getting over the shock and thinking on my feet. "Alyss, what do you mean? How did this happen?"

Alyss shifted uneasily, and I saw…shame? On her face.

"Well, I got up, and you had all left, and then I went over to the mirror…and I stopped time somehow."

It was obvious she was editing her story – a lot. _Angel?_

_Yes, Max?_

_Can you find out the truth, please? She's lying._

_Sure thing, Max!_

I walked Alyss back to her bed with Angel following, her face deep in thought.

_Max? Alyss was so angry that her wings weren't pretty she hit the mirror and it stopped and then she made time move again. That's all._

_Thanks, Angel._

_No problem, Max!_

I sat on the chair beside Alyss's bed, and my flock perched around me. I took a few deep breaths, thinking through the situation.

Ok, so I was freaking out.

"Alyss?"

"Yes, Max?"

"Can you stop time again? And maybe walk across the room the start it again?"

Alyss looked unsure. "I don't know if I can do it again," she fretted. "I was really angry, and it just happened."

"Try your best."

We watched as Alyss closed her eyes, discomfort etched onto her face. After a few minutes her hands tightened into fists, and her eyes clenched shut. She snapped them open to look directly at me, and to my surprise I leaned back slightly, intimidated by the burning anger that flared in her eyes.

One minute Alyss was on her bed, the next she disappeared. I spun round, my eyes searching until I found her on the opposite bed, looking very pale.

"Omg! That's so cool! So when we're fighting Erasers you can stop time then we can beat them or fly away and…"

"Nudge, we'd be frozen too." Iggy gently reminded her.

Nudge flushed. "Oh."

"Listen, guys." I called out. Six pairs of eyes looked at me, and I quickly thought of a plan.

"Alyss has a power. We don't know what the limitations or consequences of it are. Also," I looked at Alyss, trying hard not to let pity show on my face. "Alyss has done a Becoming a Mutant Hybrid Crash course. What took us years to develop; she did it in three days."

"And?" Gazzy asked. He flopped onto a bed, looking bored. "So what?"

I opened my mouth to try and explain, but I couldn't. I didn't know how to say it. I caught Fang's eye, and let my thoughts show on my face. He understood immediately.

"What Max is trying to say is…Alyss may be…different to us."

I shot him a look, but let the others believe him. It was part of what I thought, but not all.

As a hybrid, we go through things faster than humans. We have an accelerated metabolism, we heal quicker, we think smarter. But I had a bad suspicion that if you go the opposite of the flock had – which was growing up with different DNA already in our bodies – it wouldn't turn out well. At all.

With your DNA altered in such a short time, it's hard to figure out what would happen. I didn't know what Alyss would become, or how long she had to live, but I'm pretty sure if there were consequences, they wouldn't be pretty.

Nudge started to talk again as Iggy took out one of his bombs, experimenting idly with it. Gazzy yawned and lay down on the bed, starting to snore within a few minutes. Angel sat by the window murmuring to herself, giggling at random things in the street.

And Fang? Fang went over to Alyss and began talking to her quietly, probably about her power. I sighed and wandered around the rooms, tidying here and there, opening our bags and putting them in easy positions to throw our few belongings in. Paranoid? Hmm….let me think about that…..

Yes. Ha.

I snorted to myself and pushed myself up from where I was kneeling. A second later Angel ran into my room, her small face scared.

"Max? We're being attacked."

* * *

"Everyone get your stuff!" I roared, grabbing what I could see that belonged to the flock. "We're being _attacked_!"

I charged into the front room to see my flock running around while Alyss looked as white as a sheet from terror.

"Grab your stuff, let's go!" I shouted. I cast an eye to Angel, who was tightening her bag straps as she ran over to help Gazzy open the window. It opened up at a weird angle, and I groaned as I heard huge thumps on the door. Fang took his place beside me, but I shook my head.

"Carry Alyss!"

"But–"

"_No_ buts!" I yelled. "Do it!"

As I turned to face the weakening door, I caught something at the corner of my eye. Iggy was half in half out of the window, his eyes wide and his hands groping the air hopelessly.

"Directions, anybody?" he shouted. His voice grew desperate. "_NUDGE_!"

Nudge appeared, flapping by the window. "Take my hand, Igs!"

Iggy grabbed her hand without a moment's thought and they took off together. Fang struggled with Alyss in the window, and I ran over and helped swing her legs over. Just as I threw my own leg over the windowsill the door crashed open, and Erasers roared behind me. I caught a flash of fur and irrational fear pulsed widly in my veins.

There comes a time when I had the choice to fly or fight. Right now, with me outnumbered and my wingman carrying Alyss, I had no choice.

The glass on the window exploded and the wooden beams cracked in two as I threw myself _through_ the window. I felt glass cut my lip and wings as I soared upwards to where my flock was flapping anxiously.

"Head North!" I shouted. "To Scotland!"

Following the strange compass in my head, I took the lead and flew high above the clouds, heading north.

That's when I realized we had yet another problem.

Alyss was clutching onto Fang with her eyes tightly closed, her face paler than it had ever been before. Her legs were wrapped around Fang, and she seemed sick.

"Er…Alyss...probably not a good time to ask…but are you afraid of heights?" I asked hesitantly. I crossed my fingers, hoping she'd say no.

No such luck.

"She is, Max." Angel worried. "And we need to drop down a few hundred feet. She isn't used to breathing the thin air like this."

I pressed my fingers to my forehead. Oh dear god.

"Let's drop down then," I sighed. "And Alyss? Whatever happens, Fang won't let go of you."

Fang shot me a smirk that clearly said, _well, I'll _try_ not to drop her._

I sent him another look that also clearly said_, drop her and you _die_._

He whipped his head forward, and I grinned to myself before folding in my wings and dropping. The others followed suit, and I heard Alyss let out a small _hrmph._

"Please don't be sick this high in the air, Alyss!" I laughed at Fang's horrorstruck face before swooping up above my flock.

* * *

Nudge's POV

I tried to breathe evenly, but I knew I was close to hyperventilating. I felt so happy I could burst; explode into a million fragments and float down like feathers from the sky.

When I heard Iggy's call, fear had sent me flying towards him. I had automatically taken his hand, pulling him up with me. Then Max had joined us, her lip bleeding and her wings cut, and ordered us to go north.

When I'm older I wanna be like Max; beautiful and powerful. She seems so strong and brave and unbeatable – yet she was like a mother and a sister to me. She tucked me into bed at night and raised me, but she also liked to braid my hair and tease me. I wish I was just like Max, so I could have someone like Fang. He liked her, everyone could tell – except her.

I was brought back to the present as I tried to stop myself from grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Beside me Iggy turned his head in my direction and smiled; his glazed blue eyes content.

I smiled back as much as I could, my heart beating fast.

Iggy hadn't let go of my hand yet.

**

* * *

**

**Review Please xx**


	20. AN Story on Hold!

**I am so sorry for taking so long**

**But I have VIP news!**

**Because I'm such a lazy bum – and ok the stupid virused computer didn't help – this story will be on hold until I finish Flying Forever Free, my other fic.**

**This story WILL BE FINISHED, I PROMISE**

**I just need to get other stuff off my chest first.**

**I have my prelims in two weeks :S**

**Love to ALL and have no fear,**

**I'll introduce certain characters to FFF in chapter 16 to make up for it**

**Much Love,**

**Amy xxx**


End file.
